Knights of the Old Republic: The Prodigal Knight
by Gipper 40
Summary: A direct sequel to Knights of the Old Republic, taking place immediately after Darth Malak's defeat and culminating in the story of Revan's departure from the known galaxy. This story is in complete compliance with canon as dictated by Lucas Arts.
1. Prologue

**Star Wars**

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**Knights of the Old Republic**

**The Prodigal Knight**

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**By**

**Gipper 40 & Sarge42**

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**Prologue**

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_A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…_

_Approximately 4000 years before the Battle of Yavin and the era of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, the Galactic Republic and the Sith operated as two distinctive sovereign regimes, fighting a war for control of the galaxy. _

_Despite the efforts of the Republic and the Jedi Order, the Sith: consisting of thousands of foot soldiers, warships, and Dark Jedi Apprentices, and led by the dreaded Darth Malak have gained the upper hand in the war and stand on the cusp of victory. _

_In a final push, the Republic and the Jedi have launched a massive effort to destroy the heart of the Sith strength and stop Malak once and for all. The following story is the tale of Revan._

The Republic Capital ships began to bombard the Star Forge from all angles. Each ship barraged the reactor core that powered the enormous space station. Their lasers were at maximum firepower, yet their individual hits seemed to do little damage; but there was no turning back now, for this was the deciding battle of the Jedi Civil War.

The Star Forge was no ordinary space station. It was an ancient Rakatan factory designed to harness the power of the dark side and create an army of numbers greater than any other. It had been discovered two years ago by Darth Revan and Darth Malak and they used it to create an enormous fleet of unending size to strike at the Republic.

At this time, the Sith forces were in disarray, and the remnants of the fleet were no match for the Republic fighters, who were highly motivated and in perfect formation. This was due to Bastila Shan and her Battle Meditation ability.

Bastila was a powerful and beautiful Jedi Knight. She was Revan's bond mate, as it was because of her that the Sith Lord Darth Revan was saved from death and redeemed as a servant of the light once again. Her unique ability of Battle Meditation allowed her to use the Force to tap into the minds of her allies and enemies. She could use the Force to inspire her allies and break the will of her enemies. Such had become the deciding factor in this major battle.

The Sith Warships had recalled all of their ships and then began to jump to hyperspace. Admiral Dodonna cared nothing for the deserters. If they did not destroy the Star Forge now, the Sith fleet would easily reassemble and in greater numbers, and the Republic would be fighting an unending wave of reinforcements. As the epic battle raged on from the outside, the former Dark Lord Revan entered the main factory to confront the mighty Darth Malak.

Revan was a largely built man. His shoulders were broad, his chest was strong, and his figure was tall and powerful. His brown eyes gleamed, his hair stood still, his expression was calm cool and collected, and the battle scar above and below his eye was nearly impossible to see without the proper lighting. As he gazed around the factory, he noticed the bodies of Jedi floating in kolto tanks all around the room. He could tell this because he felt a strong Force presence coming from each tank. He pondered this, but only for a moment as he had to focus on the task at hand. His former friend and apprentice Darth Malak stood on the other side of the ramp facing his back to him with his hands crossed at his chest.

Darth Malak was very tall, very frightening, and very powerful. His mechanical jaw covered his entire mouth and made his voice much raspier and darker. His eyes were glowing bright yellow. The tattoos on the top of his bald head were straight gray lines that marked the distance between his eyes. He was dressed in red, with a black cape over the back of his right shoulder. Revan, in his powerful Exoskeleton Heavy armor and his two lightsabers strapped to the back of his belt in an X-shape slowly and calmly walked forward towards Malak. Malak turned as Revan neared him.

"Well done Revan," said Malak. "I was certain that the defenses of the Star Forge would destroy you, but it appears that there is much to your old self than I had realized. You are stronger than I thought, stronger than you ever were during your reign as the Dark Lord. I did not think that could be possible."

"Spare me the complements Malak," Revan said. "We both know that this duel was inevitable, so unless you have something really important to say, draw your lightsaber before the fear overtakes you."

"Do not attempt to break my will Revan!" groaned Malak. "With all the power of the dark side at my disposal, and the energies of the Star Forge at my beck and call, you cannot hope to triumph over me. But let us talk for a second. After all, it is our last conversation together as living beings. By the end of today, only one of us shall remain."

"You have a point," Revan admitted. "So talk."

"I cannot help but think what would have happened if you had discovered the true power of this Rakatan factory; then maybe you would have become truly invincible. All you ever saw was a factory capable of churning out and ever growing fleet to crush the Republic." Revan looked at Malak slightly perplexed, but let him continue. "In some ways the Star Forge is like a living creature. It hungers and it feeds on the dark side within all of us. That is what gives it its undeniable power, the undeniable power of the dark side!"

"It isn't strong enough to turn me over!" replied Revan. "What are you trying to say; that the environment is in your favor? It will do you no good; for I am a Jedi, and the power of the light will always shine through the darkness." Revan spoke with confidence, though he was still unsure of what Malak meant.

"Oh please, spare me the lecture!" said Malak with an air of impatience. "I used to think that you were a shell of your former self, and yet, despite that false perception, I can read you better than you can read yourself.

"The light and the darkness wage a constant war within you. The balance may be tipped one way now but you could easily be tipped back. Savior, Conqueror, Hero, Villain; you are all things Revan and yet you are nothing. In the end you belong neither to the light nor the darkness. You will forever stand alone. And that is why you will never be strong enough to defeat me…ME, the true master of the Sith!"

"Wrong again Malak!" said Revan. "All your life you have cheated to get to where you are. You were not prepared to face me in single combat, so you cowardly fired upon my ship and left me for dead. You were afraid to face me then, and you are afraid to face me now. You tried to have Bastila kill me, you even tried to have the Star Forge itself kill me, and yet here I am, unharmed." Revan said as he clenched his fists. "Are we done here? I'm not eager for blood or anything like that; I just want to get this over with."

"Indeed," said Malak with the air of a laugh. "But I cannot deny your resilience Revan. I will admit that you have astonished me in more ways than one. After being made a puppet by the Jedi council, you followed the tracks we carved when you and I first discovered the Star Forge. You even managed to kill the bounty hunter Calo Nord and my apprentice Darth Bandon in your journey. You escaped me on the _Leviathan_, and you almost destroyed my Academy on Korriban. Then, even after crashing on the Rakatan planet, you entered the Rakatan Temple again despite all your weaknesses, and turned off the disruptor field allowing you to come here. And as I expected, you tore through a few hundred of my forces to get to me. Despite my best efforts, fate and destiny have conspired to keep you alive. That is why you and I have been inextricably pushed to this final conflict, and that is why here on the Star Forge is where your journey shall end! Once again we shall face each other in single combat and the victor will decide the fate of the galaxy!"

Malak drew his lightsaber and ignited it. A red beam hissed out of the handle as Malak spun it in his right hand and stuck his left hand out taunting Revan. Revan in response reached his hands out to either side and his lightsabers on his back flew into each of his hands. Revan ignited them simultaneously and held them in front of him in the Jar'Kai formation and a left neutral stance facing Malak. In his right hand was the bright orange _Heart of the Guardian_ blade. In his left was the cyan colored _Mantle of the Force_ blade.

The two former brothers in arms exchanged one more glare at one another, and without another moment's pause, they leapt into the air at each other and began to fight. Malak was the first to land on his feet; as he thrusted his lightsaber forward at Revan in a quick circular motion. Revan, still in the air blocked all of his shots with both sabers and landed in contact with Malak. Revan lunged forward at Malak swinging both his blades ferociously. Malak blocked Revan's flurry with ease, for he was a master at the Makashi lightsaber form. Revan aimed both his sabers at Malak's head and their sabers clashed. Malak was physically superior to Revan, and with both hands on his lightsaber hilt, he forced Revan back, nearly cutting his ear off. Malak switched the lightsaber to his left hand only and began to spin it at incredible speed as he moved towards Revan. Revan immediately went on the defensive as he dodged and parried a barrage of blows from Malak aimed all over his body. Revan regained his footing and attempted to Force choke Malak.

Malak was forced to use all his energy and will to defend against it and barely managed to save himself. This bought Revan time to make his next move. He lunged forward again to thrust the _Mantle of the Force_ straight through Malak's chest, but Malak was too quick. Malak gracefully spun his saber downward and parried it to his right. As Malak parried, Revan swung the _Heart of the Guardian_ in a circular motion first slicing Malak's left foot and then looping up to the chest before Malak could recover. Malak was set back by this action, for his clothing was ripped and he bore a small scratch on his chest, but that was minor compared to the pain he felt in his foot. Blood spilled from his foot as Malak limped backwards towards one of the kolto tanks. Revan rushed in to follow up, but Malak force pushed him backward. As Revan leapt up to his feet, Malak drained the life of the Jedi floating in the tank killing the Jedi instantly. The kolto tank shattered, and the dead Jedi lay on the floor in a fetal position. The scratch on Malak's chest disappeared, and the deep gash on his foot mended itself right in front of Revan's eyes. Blood ceased to spill, and the skin rapidly grew back. Malak stood up tall once again good as new as if nothing had happened and sighed. Revan gave a curious look at Malak, and then began to smile.

"You're cheating again," said Revan, rolling his eyes. "Why can't you just fight a good honest fight? Even your idiot apprentice could do that!"

"You continue to amaze me Revan," said Malak, ignoring that last remark. "If only you weren't so naive in your initial exploitations of the Star Forge, I might still be studying under you to this day."

"What the hell are you talking about now?" demanded Revan with impatience, his sabers reignited.

"When we first discovered the Star Forge, all you saw was the potential for a grand and mighty army. I tell you this now, the Star Forge is far more than just a limitless war factory. You were blind Revan; blind…and stupid."

"Yeah well," said Revan. "I don't remember anything about my past, so you'll have to be more specific."

"Look around you Revan. See the bodies? You should recognize them from the Academy on Dantooine. These are Jedi that fell when my forces attacked; for all intents and purposes…dead, except for one difference."

Revan's right eyebrow rose. "And what difference is that?"

"I have not yet allowed them to become one with the Force. Instead I have brought them here. Their life force can be of assistance to me in combat should I require it. As you have just witnessed, any attack you bestow upon me will be useless, for I shall simply mend myself again. I have surpassed you in every possible way as the Dark Lord of the Sith. That is why you cannot beat me Revan; not here. Once you are beaten, I shall do the same to you. With your life force at my disposal, I will become truly invincible."

"I won't allow it Malak!" exclaimed Revan. "It is better that these Jedi die honorably by my hand, then serve as your medpacs in death!"

"You're welcome to try!" hissed Malak as he ignited his lightsaber again and held it with both hands.

Revan backed up as Malak pressed forward delivering a large series of powerful hard-pressed blows from the Ataru lightsaber form. They fought their way up to the left side of the factory and up the ramp passing another lifeless body in the tank. As Revan hit the wall, he ducked as Malak aimed a sideways blow to his head. Malak's saber scraped the wall as Revan stuck his both his sabers up to deflect Malak's backhand blow clashing with his saber once again. With true determination, Revan forced Malak's saber back a bit as he obscurely shifted the_ Heart of the Guardian_ into his left hand along with the _Mantle of the Force_, and punched Malak straight in his mechanical jaw. The jaw flew off and landed 50 feet away from them. Malak stumbled backward, his hand clutching the bottom of his face. As Malak's hand dropped, Revan saw the horrifying form of the non-existent bottom of Malak's face. His chin was completely gone and what was left of his mouth was completely blackened. A small microphone emitter existed where his mouth would be, and projected his deadly voice.

"What's the matter Revan?" groaned Malak. "Are you so terrified of what you once were? Do you not remember the day that you did this to me long ago?"

"Did I not just tell you that I don't remember _anything at all_ about my past!" said Revan rather coyly.

"Ah yes," said Malak with a hiss of laughter. "Thanks to the fine work of the Jedi council."

"You're getting careless Malak. If you surrender now while you still can, I'll spare your life," said Revan. He wasn't sure if he actually would if that happened; it was just something a Jedi usually says as a point of showing mercy.

"_NEVER!_" yelled Malak as he began to thrust his lightsaber straight at Revan's stomach.

Revan, his sabers in each hand once again gave a downward X deflection of Malak's saber and forced it out of his hand and into the air towards the other side of the factory. Malak leapt up and did a half back flip as he kicked Revan in the chest and used the momentum to launch far away from Revan and back onto his feet in the middle-back area of the factory where their battle first began. Malak force pulled his lightsaber back to him, ignited the blade once again, and taunted Revan to follow. Revan, after being slightly winded from the kick violently shook his head and Force jumped upward and forward. He did an aerial cartwheel swinging his lightsabers downward at Malak's head as he neared him, but Malak quickly ducked to avoid them. Revan stood in the air above Malak as he took the _Mantle of the Force_ and hurled it at the kolto tank that they had passed as they fought up the left ramp. The saber went through it shattering the glass, spilling the kolto, and cutting the lifeless Jedi in half. The saber then continued to travel around the room spinning rapidly and violently cutting through every kolto tank in the room.

As this was happening, Revan landed on this feet and Malak, taking advantage that Revan only had one saber pressed forward with all of his might, delivering another barrage of blows at Revan that made tears in his Exoskeleton Heavy Armor, despite his attempts to dodge them. Revan continued to back up knowing that pressing forward was useless. Malak kicked Revan straight in the stomach and Revan dropped the _Heart of the Guardian_ and bent over as he flew backwards and hit the door. Revan coughed up a little bit of blood as Malak charged forward, his saber held high aimed straight for his chest. Revan sat on the ground against the door and looked up at Malak giving him a smirk. Right as Malak was about to slash Revan's chest, the _Mantle of the Force_ came spinning from behind him and severed Malak's right hand. Malak stopped dead in his tracks, and looked down at his severed hand along with his fallen lightsaber. He stumbled backwards and cried out in frustration. No blood came from Malak's hand, but the pain was nonetheless excruciating. Revan immediately leapt into the air force pulling the _Heart of the Guardian_ up to him and with all the strength he possessed descended, delivering a long downward diagonal slash to Malak's chest. Malak sank to his knees, and desperately looked around the room, but it was no use. The _Mantle of the Force_ had destroyed every single Kolto tank leaving Malak completely defenseless.

As Malak gasped for breath and coughed up some of his own blood, Revan walked around to behind him. In one last ditch effort Malak turned and summoned all his power and channeled it into a raw Force energy attack out of his remaining hand. Revan caught completely off guard dropped The _Heart of the Guardian_ and crossed his arms in front of him and took the blow head on instead of dodging it. Revan skidded back about 20 feet do to the force of Malak's attack. He thought it would just be a burst but the power just kept coming. The large red beam Malak was shooting became so bright that Revan could no longer look into it, He turned his head away and closed his eyes. It was unrelenting. Malak sensing Revan's weakness stood up. The dark lord thought to himself of victory, and how after Revan's defeat nothing else in the galaxy would stand in his way. As the thoughts ran through his head, Revan despaired. The force of Malak's attack was too much. With his powers exhausted, he no longer had the strength to repel the dark lord's barrage. As he realized this Revan fell into sorrow, "_I was so close… I failed… I'm sorry Carth, Mission, Canderous, Zaalbar, Juhani, Jolee…and most importantly Bastila, I'm sorry!_" As he thought of her name a single tear slid down his face.

"_Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Can you feel it now Revan! HA HA HA HA!_ Can you feel my power? The power you gave up…? _THE POWER OF DARKNESS_!" screamed Malak over the noise of his attack. Revan giving into despair all but gave up until suddenly he felt a surge of energy, and he was able to hold his ground.

"_This_ _is not your end…there is still a destiny ahead of you...use your passions. They will give you strength._" This seemed to be a whisper in the back of his mind. The last words echoed in his mind over and over that second seemed to last an eternity. It was heard as the voice of a mysterious old woman, and it seemed to haunt Revan as the weight of Malak's power bore down upon him. He feared using his emotions due to his Jedi training, but Revan finally gave in to the words of the mysterious voice in his mind and tapped in to his passions, his desire to save the innocent, to help his friends, to redeem himself, and most of all his love for Bastila.

With these powerful emotions running through him, he felt a power coming forth. A power he had never felt before, rage, compassion, love, hate all swirling around inside his head fueling his power but it was raw and out of his control. Malak noticed that Revan was no longer being pushed back. He turned to face him again and held his ground. Then something very curious occurred. Malak looked over towards Revan's face as it was slowly changing. His eyes had turned pure white and bulging veins had appeared around them, along with this an aura had come to life around him, the color of bright cyan. It burned and flickered like fire in a breeze. The scar above and below Revan's left eye was more visible than ever now. Revan himself had not noticed these things, but what he did notice was the feeling of euphoria and the rush he felt as this power surged through him.

Revan put his hands down and to Malak's dismay the aura itself was splitting off Malak's attack. As this happened Revan's surge of power had become so great that lightning was being sent off in every direction. Unknown to both of them, the power surge was disrupting the electrical equipment throughout the entire Star Forge and even in the starships battling above. Revan focused containing the aura and its energies. Letting out a tremendous cry that sent struck fear into the heart of the dark lord, Revan focused the power outwards sending a shock wave that repelled Malak's attack and leveled the half of the room they were on and needless to say flung Malak back against one of the broken kolto tanks. Malak stood up and faced Revan again. Revan was standing but barely, he was clutching his side.

The dark lord stood up and prepared to attack Revan again, but as he did, he felt the pain from Revan's last attack sink in. He stumbled and coughed up some more blood. A small shard of glass from the kolto tank had sunk into the back of Malak's head. The giant gash on Malak's chest was deep, and blood from that wound oozed down Malak's body inside his clothes. Malak could feel the warmth of his own blood trickle down his legs, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his entire body. The blast that Revan had dealt him still echoed inside of Malak, and it severely deepened the large gash on his chest. Malak was broken. "_Revan has just bested me again, in every possible way_!" thought Malak. Revan had always been better, even since they were kids, but still they had become the best of friends, all their lives, Malak may have been the better lightsaber dualist, but Revan was stronger in the Force and always would be. Finally realizing this Malak fell on his remaining hand and knees to the floor and heavily gasping and grunting in pain cried:

"NO! I…cannot be beaten! I…am the Dark Lord…of the Sith!"

"Now you see the dark side for what it is…" Revan sighed walking over to him. "A path of empty promises and false power," said Revan calmly as he put away his lightsabers back behind his belt in an X shape. As he did this his physical features returned to normal. The scar nearly vanished, and his eyes returned to their usual brown color.

"Still…" coughed Malak, "Still spouting the so called wisdom of the Jedi I see. Perhaps there is more truth to their words than I have realized. Perhaps…" Malak coughed again. "Perhaps the light side truly is more powerful. But there is more to this than meets the eye. No ordinary Jedi could have defeated me in combat Revan. Only you could have." Malak coughed up his own blood again as he looked up at Revan. "I feared this…feared it since the moment I learned from Calo that you were alive. You…you are special Revan. You are far greater and more powerful than any other Jedi…but…but I foolishly believed that because you drew power from the light…I could best you in combat. I only wonder Revan, what would have happened had our paths been reversed. Would I have been as strong as you? Would I have been able to save you from yourself, as you have saved me? Would I have been strong enough to stay true to the light as you have?"

"There was nothing else I could have done Malak," said Revan. "You had to be stopped. I regret my initial part in this, and I would take it back if I could, but you chose to continue down the dark path." Malak's eyes throbbed. "All I can do now is look to the future and prevent something like this from ever happening again. I wish you had seen the error of your ways earlier so we could have avoided this."

Malak coughed again. "You have bested me in every possible way. I do not know what to say Revan. You are the greatest warrior of this age. And I...I am nothing." Malak coughed again. "I think it is best that I die here…by your hand." With those words, Malak coughed up blood once more and dropped flat to the floor. As he drew his last breath Revan squatted to hear the whisper that came from Malak: "Now get out of here…before you share my fate." With that, Malak passed. Revan bowed his head in sorrow, sat on the floor and shed a silent tear for his childhood friend. As he sat, he allowed himself to recharge some of his energy that had been drained during the fight, as well as ponder what had happened, and what he could have possibly done differently.

Suddenly the whole station began to violently shake. The Republic's barrage on the main reactor seemed to be working. The entire Star Forge was going critical. Revan immediately jumped to his feet but not before looking back at Malak's body he went over and took Malak's lightsaber, and sped out of the Factory and down to the_ Ebon Hawk_. His speed was incredible as he shot past the remaining troops that were trying to escape the station. As he arrived in the docking bay, he found Bastila and Carth Onasi waiting for him.

"What happened in there? Is Malak dead?" asked Bastila with a tone of concern.

"Yes," Revan said as he nodded.

"That's wonderful news," said Bastila.

"I hate to interrupt the party, but if you haven't noticed, this place is coming down around our ears! Let's get the hell out of here! Everyone else is already on the ship!" said Carth hastily. Bastila was the first to make it up the ramp while Revan and Carth were far behind. Carth tripped and a bit of the wall fell onto him pinning him to the ground. Revan stopped and turned around to help but Carth yelled back: "Go get out of here! There's no time!"

Revan ignored him and force blasted the metal beam off Carth with a swipe of his right hand. Revan held out his right hand. "I've never left anyone behind and I'm not about to start now," Revan said with a smile. Carth looked up smiling remembering that he had said the same thing to him back on Taris. Carth grabbed Revan's hand and sprung upward, throbbing his head. The two ran up the loading ramp and Carth jumped into the cockpit seat.

"Hang on! This is going to be a little rocky." The engines fired up and the _Ebon Hawk_ lifted off the floor and began to turn towards space.

The Republic Capital Ships began to turn as the main reactor up at the top of the station blew. This sent a chain reaction to the rest of the station creating multiple large explosions all over the inside as well as the outer hull.

"All Republic ships pull back now!" yelled Admiral Dodonna. She turned to Jedi Master Vandar who was standing next to her. "We've done it Master Vandar," she said with a happy grin. "The Star Forge is destroyed and the Sith fleet is in disarray. This is a great victory for the Republic!"

"But at what cost Admiral?" said Vandar with a concerned facial expression. "Where is the _Ebon Hawk_ and her crew?"

"I don't know Master Vandar. I don't know." As she said these words, the front screen flashed bright as the sun as the Star Forge exploded, causing everyone on the bridge to cover their eyes and look away for a moment. From the explosion, shot a small smuggling freighter that soared upward, somersaulted, and flew straight towards the Republic fleet. "Carth! You made it!"

"We couldn't let you start the victory party without us, Admiral!" said Carth with much glee and excitement.

"I'm glad you escaped safely. I'm sending and honor guard to escort you in. You'll be receiving a hero's welcome when you arrive." The entire fleet landed on Rakata Prime and the soldiers and remaining Jedi marched from the ships to the Rakatan Temple Exterior. The _Ebon Hawk_ landed on the beach where they had landed the first time they were forced down onto the planet.

The entire crew of the _Ebon Hawk_ left to the Temple each one of them nervous as to what was going to happen. As they arrived, the already assembled Republic soldiers cheered and clapped, so loud that it shook the foundations of the temple. All of them waving to the crowd they passed, Revan, Bastila Shan, Carth Onasi, their Mandalorian ally named Canderous Ordo, the powerful Cathar Jedi Guardian named Juhani, the elderly Jedi Consular and Great Sith War veteran named Jolee Bindo, a teenage twi'lek scoundrel named Mission Vao, Mission's personal Wookiee friend Zaalbar, and the droids T3-M4 and HK-47 marched proudly up the ramp to the outside edge of the Temple. All of them had personally aided Revan during his quest for the Star Forge in the recent events before this major battle. Admiral Dodonna and Master Vandar stood waiting for them. When they reached the top, Admiral Dodonna pinned a medal on each member of the crew.

"You have defeated Malak destroyed the Star Forge and broken the spirit of the Sith. For this I am proud to present each of you with the cross of glory the highest honor the Republic can bestow. From Coruscant to the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim you will be known as the saviors of the Republic." As Admiral Dodonna stepped aside, Vandar walked up.

"On behalf of the Jedi council, defenders of the galaxy and sworn protectors of the Republic, I too would like to honor you for your actions." Vandar then pointed to Revan. "We Jedi have another tale to weave into the grand history of our eternal order; The Redemption of Revan - the Prodigal Knight. Wherever you go you will be recognized as the saviors of the galaxy the heroes of our age. But you must remain ever vigilant for one day you may be called upon again to defend the glory of the Republic from the tyranny of the dark side; for this is the destiny of the Jedi."


	2. Chapter 1: The Vision

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black  


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**Chapter 1**

**The Vision

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An eerie calm had settled over the crew after the medal ceremony. There were celebrations and festivities, hosted by Admiral Dodonna and Master Vandar. But after a day, they had to return to Coruscant and report to the rest of the Republic the events that had just taken place above Rakata Prime. It was not as if it was the end of an epic adventure, for everyone had their duties and they were merely to resume them again, and the Republic and Jedi Order would begin the slow process of healing and rebuilding.

This entire battle above the world of Rakata Prime had been the result of a chain of events that began years ago. The Sith Order was destroyed at the end of the Great Sith War, and the Jedi Order and the Republic flourished in a long era of peace and prosperity.

Unfortunately, this era was short lived, for eight years ago, a race of warlike clans known as the Mandalorians were united under a single banner. Like fire across the galaxy, they conquered, leaving worlds ravaged, homes destroyed, and innocents slaughtered. The Republic had turned a blind eye to this, only because these worlds were outside of it. However, when the Mandalorians attacked the Republic, they came in at Suurja at four adjacent sectors, overwhelming them. The Republic had no choice but to retaliate, and so began the Mandalorian War.

Though the Republic had the Mandalorians outnumbered five to one, and had a significant surplus of ships and supplies, they were still no match for the Mandalorian strength on the field of battle. In the losing war, the Republic begged the Jedi Order for help. The Jedi council denied their request, believing that there was a greater threat behind the Mandalorian War that had yet to reveal itself. However, two young Jedi Knights; Revan and his friend Alek Squinquargesimus, whom later took up the alias "Malak," believed that this was a mistake. They believed that if they did not act immediately, the galaxy would be crushed under the steel fist of Mandalore. They rallied hundreds of Jedi Knights to their cause and Revan assumed command of the entire Republic forces; so marked the turning point in the Mandalorian War.

Revan, Malak, and the Jedi began to fight back, slowly learning the Mandalorian ways of strength, and their belief in honor and glory through victory. They learned to despise weakness, and finally, in one climactic event above the world of Malachor V, the Mandalorian War ended in a victory for the Republic. However, Revan, Malak, and the rest of the Jedi who survived did not return to the Order. They left for the Unknown Regions. Although there were rumors of them being sighted in several different places, when they finally revealed themselves, they were different. Revan had become Darth Revan, the Lord of the Sith, and Malak was his apprentice. They began sporadically attacking the Republic and the Jedi, who retaliated immediately against him.

For two whole years, Revan was undefeated. Then, in a daring move, a Jedi strike team led by the young Jedi Knight Bastila Shan boarded Revan's flagship, The Legacy. They approached the bridge and confronted him; however before the fight could even begin, Darth Malak, who was stationed on the adjacent vessel ordered his men to fire upon Revan's bridge, in the hopes of killing his master and claiming the title of Dark Lord of the Sith for his own. All the Jedi on the bridge were killed, except for Bastila. Revan was knocked out cold and concussed to the head, on the brink of death. Bastila used the Force to preserve the flicker of life within him and then took him off the ship to safety, creating the Force bond between them.

For another year, Darth Malak was undefeated as the Dark Lord, but what he did not know, was that Revan had survived. Revan was brought before the Jedi council, and they wiped his mind, using the Force to erase his memories as Revan and reprogramming him with a new identity, as an ordinary soldier for the Republic under Bastila's command. He was stationed on a Republic vessel called the _Endar Spire_, which was ambushed over the planet Taris. After they escaped the ship moments before it exploded, Revan and his new comrade Carth Onasi searched Taris in an effort to find Bastila. After finding her and escaping the planet with the help of the Mandalorian Canderous Ordo, they retreated to Dantooine on a stolen smuggler's vessel known as the_ Ebon Hawk_. There, Revan was trained as a Jedi by the council and given the assignment of finding out the source of Sith strength, that he and Malak found many years ago.

Revan, Bastila, and their companions found a Star Map on Dantooine that was a small piece of a larger puzzle. It pointed to four different worlds: Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban, which hinted that these worlds had similar maps as well. The council sent them off to find them, and their missions were fairly successful. They found the maps on Tatooine, Kashyyyk, and Manaan, but then they were intercepted on their way to Korriban. Admiral Saul Karath, a veteran of the war and a Sith defector captured them on his flagship, The _Leviathan_.

During the escape, Carth Onasi killed Admiral Karath as payback for the death of his wife, but on their way to the ship, they ran into Darth Malak. During their conversation, Malak revealed to Revan who he really was and what the council did to him. They began to fight, and Malak was inches away from killing Revan, but Bastila threw herself in between, sacrificing herself so that Revan and Carth could escape with the others.

After infiltrating the Sith Academy, Revan found the last Star Map on Korriban, and finally the location of the Star Forge, which he now knew to be the heart of the Sith strength. When Revan and his companions arrived at the Star Forge System, they were forced to crash land on the planet Rakata Prime by a disruptor field, which they had no prior knowledge of.

After finding the parts to repair the hyperdrive, Revan made his way through an old Rakatan temple in order to shut down the disruptor field around the planet. When he and his two Jedi companions Jolee Bindo and Juhani reached the temple summmit, they encountered Bastila, who after weeks worth of torture had turned to the dark side and become Darth Malak's new apprentice. They fought, and Bastila attempted to seduce Revan to the dark side, with the promise of working with him to overthrow Malak and reclaim the title of Dark Lord; but Revan refused. Bastila escaped and Revan successfully shut down the disruptor field. As the _Ebon Hawk_ left the planet and headed for the Star Forge, the Republic fleet arrived under the command of Admiral Forn Dodonna, and so began the battle over Rakata Prime.

At first the battle was not going well. The Sith fleet was too well organized, for Bastila had been using her Battle Meditation ability to aid them. In response, Revan and a group of Jedi Knights, commanded by Jedi Master Vandar Tokare infiltrated the Star Forge in an effort to find Bastila and stop her, so the Republic ships could press forward. After defeating hordes of countless soldiers, war droids, and dark Jedi apprentices, Revan found Bastila in the Command Center of the Star Forge. They fought, and during the fight, Revan saved Bastila from the dark side of the Force, and brought her back to the light. In doing so, the two confessed their eternal love for one another and shared a passionate kiss, enhancing the strength of their bond even further. As Bastila began using her Battle Meditation again; this time to aid the Republic, Revan pressed onward to find Darth Malak and end his reign of terror as Sith Lord in the name of peace and justice.

The war against Darth Malak had been utterly devastating. The planet of Telos had been bombed by the forces of Admiral Saul Karath, as well as the planet Taris in more recent events; both under the orders of Darth Malak. The Jedi Academy on Dantooine had been destroyed, and the majority of Jedi who survived were captured by Malak and their life force used for his own personal healing on the Star Forge. This victory and the destruction of the Star Forge was the final push for both the Republic and the Jedi, and their numbers had both been severely thinned. The destruction of the Star Forge and death of Malak seemed to have ushered in an era of peace and prosperity for the Republic, in which it would rebuild itself with the help of the Jedi, and they would become strong once again.

Before departing the planet, Admiral Dodonna offered the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_ a Republic escort back to Coruscant.

"No thanks," said Carth. "I think we're going to take a little break, but we'll be along in a couple of days."

"Alright," she replied. ""But Republic brass will want you to report back soon. We're going to need you at the head of the fleet." With that the two Republic soldiers saluted each other, and parted ways.

The morning after the fleet had left, the _Ebon Hawk_'s crew had woken up early for their own beach party and personal celebration. It seemed like an eternity since they were able to relax and finally let their guard down.

The _Ebon Hawk_ was set on the Central Beach of the Rakata Prime where the Star Forge used to float above and siphoning power. The lifeless village of the Black Rakata lay to the north of the beach, while the village of the Elder Rakata lay to the south. Revan had been forced to slay all the Rakata in the Black Settlement when the Elders made him prove his worthiness to enter the Temple by rescuing a captured Elder Scout. The Temple was where Revan learned more about the Star Forge and where Revan passed the final test of his devotion to the light when Bastila asked him to come to the dark side and take Malak's place once again as the rightful Dark Lord of the Sith. Revan refused, and went on to saving Bastila from the dark side on the Star Forge itself.

It was the day after the celebration of their great victory against Malak. The Republic had already left for Coruscant with Vandar leaving only the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_ on the planet. The crew of the _Ebon Hawk_ had gathered outside the ship on the beach. Revan sat shirtless on the sand somewhat away from everyone else meditating and attempting to heal himself from the scars that Malak had left him, physically and mentally. HK-47 was out hunting. Mission was taking a swim while Carth and Canderous were discussing the battles that they fought in during the Mandalorian Wars. Carth had finally opened up and began talking about those times. Bastila and Juhani lay on the sand in their bikinis getting their skin tanned. T3-M4 and Zaalbar were engaged in a rigorous game of dejarik as Jolee watched. T3 forked Zaalbar's Kintan Strider. Zaalbar growled in frustration and flipped the table upside down and walked away into the water to join Mission. Jolee then turned to T3-M4.

"Word of advice, it's not wise to upset a Wookiee. That's why I always like playing against droids; otherwise I get my arms yanked out of their sockets. Come; let's play a game, you and I." T3-M4 chirped in content as Jolee reset the board.

As Jolee reprogrammed the board, he saw Revan stand up and walk over to where everyone else was. "Hey everyone…come over here!" he shouted. The entire crew immediately responded and promptly made their way over to him. Revan poured each member of his crew a glass of Juma juice except for HK-47 who was not back from his hunt yet.

"What do you want?" said Canderous in his usual irritated tone of voice.

"Don't worry, this won't take long," Revan replied. "It's just that…there's something I need to do."

"You better not spoil the fun of the party!" said Mission somewhat coyly. Revan ignored the comment and continued.

"Dodonna and Vandar made a lot of appreciation speeches already, which I'm sure you're all sick of hearing…and enough toasts to get all the soldiers piss drunk." The crew chuckled.

"Quite the keg party," said Canderous. "Republic soldiers can't handle alcohol the way we Mandalorians can."

"Anyway," said Revan. "There is someone that I need to thank; someone who is unfortunately not with us right now. Bastila and Carth have met this person, but unfortunately the rest of you didn't." Revan paused.

"Who?" said Carth, while Bastila gave the same curious look to Revan.

"His name was Trask Ulgo," replied Revan, causing Bastila and Carth to shape their mouths in the form of an "_ah._" "He was my bunkmate on the Endar Spire. When we were ambushed over Taris, Trask woke me up and got me geared up into action." Revan paused again but the crew made no interjection. "After we secured the bridge of the ship, we ran into Darth Bandon…Malak's apprentice. In an effort to save me, Trask threw himself at Darth Bandon and held him off long enough for Carth and I to get off the ship."

"Wow…" said Mission. "That's a pretty selfless deed."

"Sounds like something good old Sunry would do," said Jolee.

"He gave his life for me," said Revan. "A debt that I can never repay; I would never have escaped the Endar Spire if it weren't for him. And if that were the case, we'd all be in very different places right now, and Malak would still be the ruler of the Sith."

"Revan," said Bastila in a somewhat soothing voice that hinted that she wanted to talk to him privately, but Revan went on.

"So I propose one final toast. To Trask Ulgo! May he rest in peace!" The crew raised their glasses and shouted:

"To Trask Ulgo!" They gulped down their drinks and went back to their activities.

Night fell over the planet as the crew packed up all of their things and put them back into the ship. They started a campfire, as HK-47 finally returned carrying a gizka and 3 cannoks.

"Statement: Master, I present to you…dinner." The crew laughed as HK-47 placed the dead animals over the fire and they began to cook. The crew ate as if they had not eaten in a week. Considering all they had been through in the last several months, this food tasted very good.

"Well, now that we're all here, I'd like to tell you all that I've just made an important decision," said Jolee suddenly as the crew continued to stuff themselves. All eyes turned to him. "I have decided to stay on this planet…for the remainder of my life, or until I am called once again to serve the Jedi or the Republic…hopefully I die first. I will explore this planet, and write my books. I feel that there is much here that would interest an old man like me."

"Are you sure about that?" said Bastila with a look hinting that she still wanted him to return to the Jedi Order.

"Yes Bastila, but don't you worry. I will make sure that my books are passed on for kids like you to read." The crew laughed. "This old man can take care of himself. Just remember to brush your teeth every day, and don't forget the lessons I taught you. And whatever you do…don't miss me too much. Because that might make you come back!" The crew laughed again and raised their glasses.

"Well then I wish you the best of luck Jolee," said Carth as he raised his glass at him. "May you find peace and happiness for the remainder of your many years."

"Many years? Why you little…" Jolee chuckled. "Don't make me bore you to death with another story, young man," said Jolee with a joking expression. The crew erupted in laughter once again, as they continued devouring their dinner.

"Well everyone, I'm tired, so I think I'm going to turn in early," said Bastila while beginning to yawn.

"Good night," said the rest of the crew almost at the same time. Bastila walked into the _Ebon Hawk_ with her plate. For a minute, the entire crew sat in an awkward silence. Revan stood up and yawned.

"Well, good night everyone, get some sleep. Jolee…It's been an honor." Jolee stood up and Revan shook his hand. "Best of luck old man." Jolee smirked in return.

"Good night Revan," said Mission. Revan walked into the_ Ebon Hawk_ with his plate and set it in the auto refresher. He found Bastila in the Port Dormitory spreading her bed sheets. For a moment he stood outside the room and paced the floor wondering what to say. He entered with confidence, posture, and relaxation.

"Bastila," said Revan quietly. Bastila looked up at him.

"Yes?" said Bastila looking up quickly as if expecting his arrival.

"I was…I was wondering if we could have a private conversation, just you and I. There's something serious that I think we need to discuss. Bastila nodded and sat on her bed. She patted the bed on her left side as she looked Revan in the eye. Revan sat down beside her and sighed. "Bastila…" Before Revan could finish, Bastila gently put her forefinger on his lips.

"Shhh," whispered Bastila soothingly. "Revan, you and I are eternally bonded. I know what's on your mind. It's about us…and our relationship." Revan nodded as Bastila opened her hand and gently placed it on Revan's cheek. "Was it true? What you said to me on the Star Forge?"

Revan lightly grasped Bastila's hand with his own and stroked the back of her palm. "Yes," he said. "Every word of it was the truth." Bastila began to flush a little bit, but Revan continued. "I wasn't just saying that to bring you back to the light. Crossing blades with you on top of the Temple and in the Star Forge was the most painful thing I have ever experienced; even more painful than losing you on the Leviathan." Bastila turned her head forward and looked down at her feet. She scuffled her feet a bit and banged them against the bed as she contemplated what to say. She sighed deeply and blinking rapidly. She then looked up at the ceiling.

"You really mean it…don't you," said Bastila, looking back at him. "Do you love me?" Revan took a deep breath.

"So much," said Revan. "I love you more than anything in this galaxy. I never wish to see you hurt or in pain again. It was simply too much to bear the first time. And I think that given the nature of our bond, you feel the same way."

"I…I do," stammered Bastila. "This was easier to say on the Star Forge, but I've been in love with you since we met on Taris. I tried to do all that I could to suppress my feelings for you. I treated you awfully, and my attitude made everyone on the ship somewhat miserable."

"I don't think…" began Revan, but Bastila cut him off.

"And that day that we finally shared our first kiss…here in this very room…it was so right. And I stupidly drew away and tried to distance myself from you again. It was stupid of me and…" Before Bastila could finish, Revan pulled her forward and their lips joined in another passionate kiss. As their lips joined, Revan, contemplated pulling her closer to him to better the moment, but Bastila pulled away quickly before he could even try. "Wait wait…" she said.

"What?" said Revan. At the moment, he was not interested in the sex as much as he was truly concerned for her well being. At the moment they drew apart, Revan had sensed that something was troubling her.

"It's just that…we're Jedi. How can we simply forsake our oath? The Order forbids it, and I don't think I can forsake what I am so easily. I guess…I'm just really confused right now. My heart belongs to you Revan, but I swore an oath to the Jedi Order."

"Bastila," replied Revan. "There's no shame in the love we share, and you know it. We aren't superheroes…to kill the bad guy, save the galaxy, and get the girl…that's not what I do. That's not what _we _do. But this secrecy in love is killing me. I don't want to announce to the galaxy that I love you, but if the Order finds our love to be heresy, then we don't belong with them." Bastila gave Revan an odd look.

"Are you saying we should leave the Order?"

"No, of course not," said Revan. "I think that the love we share makes us better and stronger Jedi, and we _should _be Jedi. But if the other Jedi don't understand that, then they don't deserve our loyalty."

"I think…I think I need some time to sort things out in my head. I hope you can understand that."

Revan sighed with a frown as he nodded and kept looking at the floor. "I do," he said. "Good night." Revan slowly began to turn away from her. He would have said my love but something held him back, an awkward moment passed. Then without looking back, he stood up and exited the room. Though he didn't notice it, a few small tears were flowing down Bastila's cheeks after he left the room.

Revan walked to the Starboard Dormitory and sank on to the bed. He gazed at the ceiling, wondering if he could have played that a little better. "_Maybe if I didn't make that corny superhero reference, I'd be in a better situation right now,_" thought Revan. But his thoughts were interrupted when Carth strolled into the room. Revan sat up on his bed, and gave Carth a concerned look. Without saying anything, Carth sat down on a chair across from Revan. For what seemed like a half hour, they simply stared at each other. Their breathing was slowed, and their hands were perfectly steady on their laps.

"Carth…obviously you have something to say. I'm listening," said Revan, who seemed anxious to break the awkward silence.

"Well…" said Carth unsure of where to begin. "I've been thinking back to when we met on the _Endar Spire_ and when we fought together on Taris."

"Time really flew didn't it," said Revan. "All this shit happened in one year, and it almost feels like it was yesterday when we first met." Revan could tell Carth was serious, but his friend's demeanor was almost too intense for Revan to handle, so this was his attempt to ease him up.

"Yeah," said Carth. "I was unfair to you to say the least in my paranoia and distrust. I hope you will accept my deepest and most sincere apologies for that."

"You've done this before," said Revan. "And…"

"Still," interjected Carth. "I owe you a lot Revan. I've been thinking a lot about everything that's happened over this year. Kind of a mental recap, if you will…"

"I get it," said Revan. "I'll probably end up doing that some time."

"Just hear me out, okay? I've got a lot to say."

"Alright," said Revan with a developing grin. "Spill your guts."

"As I said, I've been playing through my head everything since our escape from Taris before its destruction to where we are now," said Carth. "I realize that even though Bastila and her Battle Meditation was one of the keys to the whole Republic war effort, the true victory was in our war, the true driving force behind Malak's defeat was you. And I know what you'd say to this, that you couldn't have done it without us, and I don't know how true that really is, especially considering the Star Forge mission and your true identity resurfaced. I mean, I thought the events on the _Endar Spire _were complicated, but now I think that I was a fool. After escaping from Taris, you back traced your own footsteps to find the Star Forge. You even found my long lost son Dustil and managed to turn him away from the lies of the Sith. Despite Malak's attempts to kill you by sending Nord and Bandon after you, you still prevailed." Carth paused for a moment, and Revan immediately jumped the gun.

"I hope you're not suggesting that I'm the _only_ reason we survived," said Revan, somewhat laughing at the irony of the situation. During Revan and Carth's mission on Taris, Carth had told Revan that he was suspicious of everyone, and slipped the tongue that it was odd that a "new recruit" like Revan just happened to be one of the survivors of the _Endar Spire_. But at the time, Revan suspected Carth of accusing him of being the reason the _Endar Spire_ crashed in the first place.

"Of course not," said Carth. "But you were the driving factor. You were the balls and brains of the whole Star Forge quest. Even though technically I'm your commanding officer, we just ended up following your lead, because you were better."

"I'm glad you approve," said Revan.

"Well, there's more," said Carth. "After Manaan, we were all captured by Admiral Karath on the Leviathan. Not only did you help us escape and allow me to have my revenge on him, but you faced Malak for the first time, and I'm starting to think you would have won, if Bastila hadn't intervened. With Bastila captured by Malak, and all of us finally having found the Star Forge, even crashing on this planet, you still managed to brighten the day and bring Bastila back to the light. Do you see where I'm going with this Revan? It almost seems that a lucky star is following you, but I know better. It's not luck; it's not even the Force. It's you."

"I'm flattered Carth," said Revan with another grin. "But in my experience, there actually _is_ such as a thing as luck."

"I think back on all this, and I realize, there were so many times, beyond count, where you could have so easily turned your back on all of us. You could have succumbed to the dark side and betrayed us, as you did so long ago, but you didn't. You faced impossible choices, and overwhelming odds, yet you pulled through each time. You really came through for all of us Revan."

"Okay really," said Revan. "Where exactly are you going with all this?"

"It's just that…it's just that I never thought I could trust anyone after Karath's betrayal. He was a fatherly figure in my life during his time with the Republic. I spoke so harshly of Darth Revan too because he was also a traitor in my eyes. And now Revan, I look at you, and I look back on what you did, and what you have now done, and my doubts are fully dispelled. I finally feel as if I can trust again. Needless to say, you have restored my faith in other people. I know that sounds corny, but I want you to know, that I look upon you with deep respect and admiration. I'm proud to have served with you, and I'm damn proud to be your friend." Revan smiled in a compassionate way.

"You do know you've said this before and I've already forgiven you" said Revan rather seriously.

"Yes but I still feel as if I needed to say it again. I had no right to be the way I was toward you…when all you did was help," explained Carth.

"Carth, you had every right to be paranoid and hostile with me. Though neither of us knew for a while that I used to be Darth Revan, you had been betrayed in the heart by someone other than Malak and I, and it cost you the life of your loved one and almost the life of your son." Revan walked over to Carth who was still sitting down and looking up at him humbly. Revan put his hand on Carth's shoulder and smiled. "There is nothing you need to apologize to me for. After all, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here either. It was you who dragged me from the crash site on Taris. You saved my life. I mean, imagine if the Sith found and captured me. We would all have very different futures now. Hell, I'd probably be dead!" Revan's hand slid from Carth's shoulder. "I owe much of where we are today to you. So Carth, I hope you know that you also have my trust and my gratitude. You are a good friend, and a fine soldier. I foresee great things in your future." Revan wasn't actually looking into Carth's future when he said this; he just knew that the Force intended great things for a man of Carth's stature and character. He was a good man, and probably Revan's best friend.

"Thanks," said Carth. "It's good to know that the Force bodes well for me." Carth stood up and held his hand out. Revan smiled and stuck his hand out as well. The aura of the room was that of two children meeting together knowing that they would be best friends for life when their hands met. The handshake was firm and true.

Revan sat back down as Carth began to leave the room. "Carth…" said Revan suddenly. "Just one more thing; as soon as possible, get everyone else back up into the Hawk. Take her up, and plot course for Coruscant. I'd like to make this a quick overnight journey if we can help it." Carth stood arrow straight at full attention and saluted.

"Yes Sir." He turned a full 180 degrees and left the room. Revan laid back down with a laugh at Carth's salute, and began to drift into a deep and well earned sleep. As his eyes closed, his mind opened itself to the wonders of imagination…or so it would seem. As he drifted into sleep Revan felt a cold sensation run up his spine chilling him to the bone.

* * *

_Revan stood on the surface of a dark and gloomy world. The surface was filled with jagged rocks, heavy metal, and poison gas mines in the cracks on the ground. Above was nothing but clouds and storm effects. Lightning struck from what looked like miles away, yet the booming and deafening noise of thunder hit no more than a second after each strike. It was as if the lightning was so close, and yet so far away at the same time. This planet…whatever it was, was dark and tainted. Revan stood in front of an ancient Sith Academy. The Academy stood with its entrance no more than twenty feet away from him, yet its outer walls spanning for what seemed like over a hundred meters high. The dark side was very strong here. He could feel the energies flowing through him, yet he remained calm and in full control of his emotions. The dark power could not shake him down, but it certainly proved a nuisance. Alert and prepared for the worst, he walked into the Academy and through its halls feeling the unbridled darkness around him. As he walked the halls he saw many gaunt figures standing about, dressed in black robes. They did not move, as if they were statues. Yet they emanated a dark energy that was almost visible. Revan thought silently to himself: "I sure pick the best places to go don't I." Finally he came to the center of the Academy: the core of the planet. There, to his utter surprise and horror, he saw none other than his former self dressed in the dark body armor and mask that had been his trade mark, sitting and meditating._

_The core of this strange world was an endless pit of despair and darkness. The energies of this world fed the gravitational fluctuations, the power swimming around it as if the planet itself was anxiously waiting for someone to take a leap into the endless chasm. The energies circled around a stone tower that which the summit was on level with the floor. In the center of the summit was a giant red circle, which the Sith Lord to be was centered on. Right outside the circle were four small upward beams that also curved inwards. On the four corner edges of the tower were beams of the same shape, but taller and curvier. There were three separate entrances to the area, all of them narrow walkways that housed a small partial indoor hallway on them. These three entrances stood between the corner structures. Revan stood on one of the walkways gaping in horror at the sight of himself basking in the dark energies of this cursed place._

_A large and well conditioned Iridonian approached the core from another entrance to the core. He wore a tech belt with numerous tools for repairs, a sheathed sword on his back, and a small spherical droid orbiting around him. The Iridonian stopped behind him and stood at ease, with his behind his back and feet shoulder width apart._

_"_You summoned me, my lord?_" said the Iridonian in a deep and intimidated tone of voice._

_"_Bao-Dur,_" said Darth Revan in his calm yet intimidating tone of voice without turning to face him. "_It is as I suspected. The core of Malachor V is incredibly unstable. I shall make the preparations to continue with my plans for the war. I want you to begin working on the Mass Shadow Generator immediately. You must work fast and efficiently, for you have but four months available to you. Failure will not be tolerated. Complete this weapon on schedule or earlier, or face the dire consequences. Do I make myself clear?_"_

_"_Y...yes my lord,_" said Bao-Dur. "_I shall begin working on it at once._"_

_"_Very well,_" said Darth Revan. "_That will be all Bao-Dur._"_

_"_Y_es_ my lord._" Bao-Dur bowed, turned and walked away._

_A flash struck Revan off guard and forced him to shield his eyes. The entire room disappeared. Revan looked around and saw nothing but white around him._

"_If you are to truly understand the Force, then you will need the contrast, not adherence to a single ideal," said a strange cryptic female voice in the background. Revan turned around and saw nothing. Revan gazed around, but saw nothing but empty white space._

"_When I look at you Revan, it is like staring into the heart of the Force. You are power, and you understand war more than any other in the galaxy." Revan turned about again, but still saw nothing. The voice was emanating around him, forcing him to hear it, and no matter what he could do, he could not shut it out._

"_WHERE ARE YOU!" bellowed Revan in frustration._

_As he finished, his vision returned to him. The scenario was different this time. He was on a ship and on the command deck. _

_The ship was cruising near Malachor V, and the remaining Mandalorian ships had scattered or surrendered as the small remaining Republic and Jedi forces took them. The planet of Malachor was shaking violently and dark lightning and hurricanes were pulsating around the planet nonstop. On the floor of the bridge of the ship was the body of a dead and headless Mandalorian. This corpse was different however. He had only been killed recently and he was wearing a different kind of armor. The armor was fully black with many thick silver patches on the chest, shoulders, arms, and legs. _

_Revan looked towards the front of the bridge, he again saw his former self standing at the bow of the bridge. His arms were crossed, and his face was calm, yet hinted a sign of satisfaction. But there was something else there as well. Four other individuals were standing together behind Revan. On the left was a young, bald, and somewhat skinny fallen Jedi with a full jaw who he immediately recognized as Malak. To the right of Malak was the Iridonian he recognized from the previous vision. To the right of Bao-Dur was a twilek woman. While her facial features appeared to be corrupted by the dark side, the expression on her eyes was surprisingly perfectly calm and centered. It bore no trace of seduction by the dark side, nor did it resemble any kind of sadistic pleasure in watching the space battle from so far away. She concealed a double bladed lightsaber at her belt, and just like Revan, she simply stood there with her arms crossed. She had green skin, and she was wearing a Mutaki Adept Robe. She hardly had any unique features on her face, but she wore a small red dot on her head, that looked as if it was ingrained in her like a brand. On the far right, stood a beautiful woman who appeared to be dead, arms hanging limply and her eyes drifting off in a dead stare, and yet she was still standing, it was if her spirit was dead. On her front lapel, she bore a pin that stated her rank as "General." He felt nothing at all from this woman, not even any kind of hint that she had ever been able to use the Force in the first place; yet this woman was wearing a Jedi Knight Robe, and she was wielding a lightsaber in her right hand. It's like she wasn't even connected to the force. _

_The room abruptly went fully white, again causing Revan to shield his eyes. He looked around him and again saw nothing as he had before. The cryptic voice howled through the air once more._

"_If you were to face an ancient Sith Lord in lightsaber combat, you would learn that we are as children playing with toys compared to the prowess of the old Masters," said the mysterious voice again. There was no pattern in these words; no clear source on where they came from. Yet, Revan could not shake the feeling that he had somehow heard these words before. That maybe he recognized the woman who said them. Perhaps this was someone he knew before the Jedi wiped his memory. The voice echoed around him again._

"_Have you learned nothing? Healing IS manipulation! If you seek to aid everyone that suffers in the galaxy, you will weaken yourself…and weaken them. It is the internal struggles, when fought and won on their own that yield the strongest rewards. Be careful not to steal that struggle from them. If you care for others, then dispense with pity and sacrifice and recognize the value in letting them fight their own battles. And when they triumph, they will be even stronger from the victory."_

"_BUT THAT MAKES NO SENSE!" yelled Revan as if deafened from the voice. "WHAT IF THEY ARE UNABLE TO DO SO? I CANNOT STAND BY AND WATCH ONE SUFFER WITHOUT LENDING A HAND! IT IS NOT THE JEDI WAY!" Without even a moment's pause from what Revan said, he heard the voice again._

"_Indeed the Jedi may never understand what the truth may very well be. That perhaps Revan, never truly fell."_

"_WHAT!" said Revan astonished by the apparent foolishness of said statement. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I NEVER TRULY FELL! WHO ARE YOU, AND HOW DO YOU KNOW ME!"_

"_Oh Revan," said the voice finally seeming to have heard him. "You don't truly believe that these lightsaber carrying acolytes and Force adepts are the Sith do you? You are wrong. The Sith is an idea; a philosophy." Revan suddenly recognized the voice from where he had heard it recently before, yet he still did not know where it came from. While there were no patterns in the dialect, this was the same haunting voice that he heard as a whisper within his skull when he was fighting Malak. This was the voice that told him to use his passions and to forget the code of the Jedi Order to do what must be done for the sake of the galaxy._

_As these thoughts raced through his head, Revan's surroundings changed back to the core of Malachor V. It was quiet as a tomb. An old woman dressed completely in black sat meditating in the center in solitude. From two different entrances, Revan's jaw dropped in horror as he saw two terrifying figures enter. Entering through one way was a grotesque being with features so frightening, it made Revan cringe. He wore no shirt, a light grey sash, dark pants, and thick armored boots. His skin was dark grey and his flesh was cracked and scarred all over. There were cuts and scrapes all over his chest, arms, neck, and face. His right eye was surrounded what appeared to be a giant gash in which the entire outer layer of his skin had simply been cut off. _

"_This man must either sleep with vibroblades, or is a very lucky survivor of a savage knife incident," thought Revan. To the left of this man, coming out of another entrance was a tall dark figure also dressed completely in black and wearing a white mask with black spots over his eyes and nose should be. The man's robes dragged across the floor as he walked at about the same pace as the undead fellow. _

_Together they approached the old woman as she stood up. The undead fellow got to her first, and drew his lightsaber. A red beam snaked out of the hilt as he stood tall with his eyes bearing down at her. The old woman immediately ignited her red lightsaber and faced him. The dark robed man stood tall with his arms crossed. There was a short pause, in which they all simply stood there, eyes gleaming at each other. The pause was suddenly broken when the old woman flew backwards and hit the corner wall. Her lightsaber flew out of her hand and hit the floor. Revan saw the robed one with his left arm straight out. The undead one shut off his saber and slowly approached her. The old woman struggled to Force pull her lightsaber towards her. Her hilt shook on the floor, but it did not come to her. The undead one stood looking over the pitiful sight of a helpless old woman laying before him. With his right hand, he grabbed her face and lifted her up in the air with relative ease. He let go of her face as he shot his left knee straight for her gut. He punched her downwards with his right hand. The robed man watched with no body expression. The undead one put his right hand at her neck and squeezed, lifting her up into the air again. The woman desperately struggled to free herself but failed terribly. The undead one threw her down onto the floor with only his right hand. The woman lay helpless and physically broken on the floor as the two menacing Sith Lords stared down at her._

_"Your teachings are no more, old woman," __said the undead one in a deep and heavily raspy tone of voice. "No longer need we suffer beneath your words that will weaken us and subjugate us to your will. You are but an insignificant slime beneath our efforts…and Nihilus and I are the masters. The dark side of the Force is greater than all, and all who oppose its power, shall die…starting with you…Kreia."_

_"Sion!" __gasped the old woman in a voice that Revan recognized as the one haunting him. "You…you are my greatest failure. And if you strike me down…I…I shall be…become more powerful than you…than you could possibly imagine!" __Then out of nowhere, a series of hisses and screams in what could only be the tongue of the ancient Sith Lords came from Darth Nihilus. Kreia gazed up at him as he screeched out unintelligible words that were frightening to anyone hearing it for the first time. The voice of Nihilus slowly began to fade and soften._

_Revan's sight of horror came to a halt when the room disappeared and went completely black._

"_Awaken," said the voice of Kreia.

* * *

_

Revan's eyes opened as he sat upwards almost throwing himself off the bed. His body was covered in his own sweat, his heart was racing, and his breathing was heavier than it had ever been.

"Statement: Master, my sensors detected the velocity of your heart beating at over 400 kilometers per hour. Query: Are you well?" Revan looked to his right to see HK-47 looking over him.

"I'm fine HK," said Revan panting and gasping for breath. "Just a bad dream, that's all..."

* * *

_Sarge42 and I would like to thank you for continuing with "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	3. Chapter 2: Return to Coruscant

**Part I  
**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black****  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Return to Coruscant**

* * *

The _Ebon Hawk_ entered the Coruscant system. It breezed through space slowly towards the Republic Capital world, as the crew began to awaken. Carth was up and awake as he pulled the ship out of hyperspace. Bastila, Mission, and Juhani all woke from the Port Dormitory at about the same time, getting up and going about their things getting ready to touch down. Revan never went back to sleep after his nightmare of visions, but Canderous slept like a baby in his bed behind him. Canderous had humorously neglected to take off his Mandalorian Assault Armor. His personal Ordo Heavy Blaster lay at his side. Revan chuckled staring at a very sleepy Mandalorian. HK-47 stood perfectly still at the entrance of the Starboard Dormitory as if he were on guard duty, with his Bargawin Heavy Repeater held loosely in his right arm and his death red eyes gleaming at the hallway in front of him.

Through the whole ride since he woke from the dream, Revan lay on the bed with his eyes wide open looking at the ceiling and thinking. "_What just happened to me? Was I really like that back in my old days of darkness? Who the hell was that old woman!_" These were few of the many questions going through Revan's head. Each question seemed to raise another, and there was nothing Revan could think of that would leave himself satisfied with a proper answer. Finally, one question popped into Revan's head that made him sit up in excitement. "_Did Bastila have this vision too!_ It would seem to have made sense that she would have. The two of them were bonded together by the Force. This was the case from the moment that Bastila preserved the flicker of life in Revan the day that Malak betrayed him and fired on the bridge of his ship. When Bastila saved Revan's life, it created the bond between them, and therefore when they met again on Taris. Though Revan did not know who he truly was, he felt as if he had either already known Bastila, or had met her in a dream he had of her defeating Darth Revan. Every time they traveled to a world that Darth Revan had been to back when he and Malak first discovered the Star Forge, Revan and Bastila would both dream of the exact location of the Star Map. It was Bastila who Revan kept with him almost the whole time due to the bond between them, and they discovered the Star Maps together. When he lost her to Malak on the Leviathan, finding the Star Map on Korriban was especially challenging for him, but with his usual cunning and valor, he was able to find it by infiltrating the Sith Academy and surpassing the rest of the prospective students.

Dreading that Bastila must have had this vision too, Revan stood up. As he began to move, he suddenly stopped. "_Wait a minute,_" thought Revan. "_Bastila has just been turned back to the light. The vision I had was a very dark one. I saw my former self, and I saw a helpless old woman get trashed by two Sith Lords. If Bastila had this dream as well, she will come to me, to which I may be in a better position to talk about it. What if I receive more from this vision as I did with the visions of the Star Maps? What if I am forced to confront those two Sith Lords? Bastila has suffered enough at the hands of Malak. I cannot risk her life again like that._" Revan sat back down as these thoughts ran through his head. Perhaps it was better not to talk to Bastila about it unless she asked about it. Perhaps it was better that he kept her in the dark for now. Convinced that this was a good idea, Revan stood back up and walked past HK-47 and out of the room.

"Statement: Good morning, Master," said HK-47.

"Good morning HK," said Revan as he moved past him. Revan walked to the cockpit and saw Carth taking the _Ebon Hawk_ for a landing near the Jedi Temple. "How are we doing?" asked Revan to Carth, who jumped in excitement not knowing he was there.

"Fine fine, this landing should be much smoother than some of my previous ones," said Carth. "Are the others up?"

"Yes, they are all awake except for Canderous and Zaalbar. Zaalbar's got that usual freighter engine snore," chided Revan and greeted with a mild chuckle from Carth. The _Ebon Hawk_ touched down gently onto a platform on the roof of a large building less than a block away from the Jedi Temple and the ramp lowered.

A small company of importantly dressed individuals were on the scene to greet Revan and the crew. Word had already reached the entire Republic Senate of his success and redemption. A few Senators and their body guards shook Revan's hand and constantly flattered him with remarks of his valor as he moved to the elevator with Bastila on the other end of the building roof. Carth, Canderous, Mission, and Juhani stayed atop the building to further chat with their greeters.

"How ironic would it be if Canderous was offered a commanding position in the Republic fleet?" said Revan in an attempt to humor Bastila as the elevator began to descend.

"Very," said Bastila laughing. Revan fell silent as the elevator fell with great speed. "Something troubles you?" she said sensing that Revan's thoughts were disturbed.

"No, not troubling. It's just…I only wonder what is meant for us now, and what I am to do in the near future. It seems like a happy ending but…life goes on."

"Revan, don't concern yourself too much. We'll find a way to sort everything out. You are a Jedi again. Do not worry about your future. Just trust in the wisdom of the Council for once," said Bastila as she put her hand on Revan's shoulder. The elevator halted on the ground floor and Revan and Bastila made their way to the Jedi Temple. Outside the temple, a number of Jedi Knights including Belaya stood waiting for them at the room of a thousand fountains.

"Bastila! I'm so happy to see you both alive and intact. How fare you my friends?" said Belaya almost jumping at them with joy.

"We're doing great. I'm glad you survived Dantooine. I'd love to catch up later, but we have to go. The Jedi council has requested an audience with me."

"You go on without me," said Bastila. "I shall keep everyone occupied and away from you while you go visit the council. You don't need any more stress right now. Just clear your thoughts before you enter the chamber."

"I will. Please excuse me," said Revan with a smile as he bowed to both of them. Revan raced to the elevator and took it to the very top. He caught his breath as the elevator shot up the building.

Revan gazed down to see Coruscant through the glass window. Buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. Skyscrapers were common on the planet. Aerial traffic was usually chaotic at all points during the day and night. Speeders and pods sped at great speed. It was a wonder that they did not crash into each other, but everything was in order in the sky. On the ground, the streets were filled with hoards of people of all different species walking in one direction. While essentially being one giant city, the overall scenery of Coruscant was beautiful. Revan could feel the currents of life flowing through the streets of Coruscant. The reality was that most of these people probably knew nothing of the fact that Malak had just been defeated, but overall sense was peaceful and tranquil. The ebb of life that flowed through the breeze created light vibrations soothing to Revan, who still felt somewhat drained from avoiding everyone in the room of a thousand fountains. The elevator screeched to a stop at the top of the Jedi Temple. The doors opened and Revan began walking to the council chamber.

"Where do you think you're going Revan?" Revan turned and looked down to see Vandar beside him, as if he had been walking there since he exited the elevator. Revan bowed.

"Master Vandar, the Council granted an audience with me at my request," replied Revan.

"Indeed they did," said Vandar. "I think that they anticipated you getting a lot of reception downstairs, so they did not specify a time. I assume you are headed there now now?"

Revan nodded. "I think they have a right to see me for who I am, and that they should pass their judgment as they see fit," said Revan with a smooth tone.

"Indeed…a decision that speaks volumes of true character, and yet unwise at the same time," said Vandar.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Revan while furrowing his brow.

Vandar laughed. "I am glad that you are not active in politics because clearly you do not know the Council." Vandar beckoned Revan to begin walking with him and they slowly proceeded forward. "Revan, you may have emerged victorious on the field of battle, and you may be everything that I believe you to be, but many in the council continue to doubt and misjudge you. Besides, I can tell that something is troubling you."

"Well," said Revan. "I have been having some disturbing visions in my sleep. They may be just dreams, but I feel as if they may be more. May I confide in you for a bit?"

"Of course," said Vandar. "Follow me to my meditation room. We can discuss more in private there." They walked together to the meditation chamber on the right side of the hallway. Vandar closed the blinds and turned off the light. Vandar sat on the center stool in seiza while Revan sat loosely on the chair in front of him. "Now…tell me about these dreams of yours."

Revan elaborately described his visions to Vandar. Vandar listened intently without a single interruption.

"Did Bastila have this dream too?" asked Vandar after Revan finished.

"I don't know. I never spoke of it to her but she seemed like she had a perfectly comfortable sleep. Master…do you think that this vision was truly intended for me only? Do you think perhaps that our bond is beginning to break?"

"Bonds as powerful as the one you and Bastila share are not so easily broken," said Vandar shaking his head. "Take this only as a perspective, but what I derive from this is a potential destiny for you. The Sith are still out there. Malak is dead, but many Sith escaped the battle. As we have seen in the past, the Sith will always rise again until their teachings are completely wiped out, a trait we ironically share with them."

"So what do you think I should do?" said Revan.

"I believe that when you speak to the council, you should offer your service as you did so many years ago. You have my trust Revan, and I will always be there to help you to persuade the Council. We must stand together and let the Council know of the situation and trust in their wisdom. I'm sure the others will have some ideas on how to defeat the rest of the Sith while we still can."

"Strange that you speak of the Council as if they are something separate, even though you are on it," said Revan. "Not that I mind. Do you think they will trust me?"

"While I am not sure that I understand Kreia's reference to what the Sith _are_, I believe that your actions so far have proven that you are worthy of _my_ trust. I can tell you this much; Kreia was your first master. You were her padawan when you first joined the order, and you returned to her during the Mandalorian Wars for reasons unknown to me. She was once a Jedi Historian, and I only knew _of_ her; I did not know her personally. She would be a very old woman at this point in time; she may not even be alive. More importantly, I give you words of caution. You must be careful if you choose to pursue these visions. Also I would advise you not to keep your party in the dark. They are loyal and they are useful. I do not doubt the courage and truth in their hearts, but if you follow this path they may be placed in grave danger. Tread carefully Revan, that is my council."

"Thank you Master Vandar," said Revan as he bowed his head. "Now, you mentioned something about the other council members and their attitude towards me?"

"Ah yes. At this time, those who sit on the council are Vrook Lamar, Zhar Lestin, Lonna Vash, Master Dorak, Mistress Atris, and I. Of the two who may be the most hostile to you are Vrook and Atris. Atris herself has been fairly awry since the end of the Mandalorian Wars. She and Vrook both hold very low views for anyone who went to war against the council's wishes. Most importantly, their view towards you and Malak for your past deeds remains the same. Currently, they do not know that you have learned your true identity. It would of course be wise to tell them, but I recommend that you collect your thoughts and persuade them with the same charisma that you are known for. But I should also advise that you do not tell them about these visions. That will only make them more suspicious of you. Tell them what you need to tell them without giving the impression that you are hiding something. How much thinking have you actually done on this matter?"

"Not much," said Revan. "All I thought was that I need to tell them that I know who I am. I need to tell them that I am Darth Revan no longer. I am Revan, a servant of the light side of the Force, a soldier for truth, justice, and peace. Something like that…"

"Not bad, but I recommend you come to the council more prepared than that. You may remain here and collect your thoughts. I will tell the council that you have been slightly delayed… wait I almost forgot. I have something for you." Vandar had just left his stool.

"What is it master?" Revan asked with great interest. Vandar walked slowly over to a chest in the corner of the room. "Even one such as me forgets every now and then," said Vandar opening the chest and leaning inside it. Revan tilted his head in curiosity. Vandar stood back up this time holding a black box with a Jedi insignia on the top. "I have kept this for years. The council would forbid this" Vandar paused. "But it's my belief that this is rightfully yours. You may still find use for it, as well as I don't think there is any harm in you possessing it."

"Master what are you talking about?" Revan inquired.

"This was taken from you when young Bastila brought you here and the Jedi healed your mind." Vandar replied.

Revan starting to guess what it might be said, "Master I know you mean well but whatever is in that box is from my old life and I want no part of it!"

"Revan this may be hard for you but you must come to terms with your old life if you are to move on. Do with it what you will but all I ask is that you take it and in so doing accept your past. As I would ask the Council to judge you by what you are as opposed to what you were, so too must you acknowledge yourself. The hardest test of a Jedi is to look into the mirror and see what can become. Yet it is what you must do to learn from your past and your mistakes, and I have no doubt that you are ready for such undertaking."

"Well at least tell me what it is." Revan said realizing Vandar was right.

"It is your old suit of armor. It has no doubt seen many battles and will serve you well in the future if I guess right." Vandar said holding out the box. Revan didn't know why but this had an effect on him, he became transfixed on the box. Revan without even thinking reached out and took the box. "May the Force be with you." Vandar said with a bow. Revan nodded his head once more as Vandar got up and left the room. Revan stared at the box in his hands but he finally got control of himself again and realized the box would have to wait for later. Somewhat reluctantly Revan put the box into the duffel bag he had brought with him.

For the next hour, Revan sat in seiza where Vandar was sitting in a deep meditation. Thousands of words rained through his head as he meditated on what to say to the council. He could not help but feel relieved that Vandar was still his friend and not an anal Jedi Master like Vrook. Revan never admitted it, but he really did not like Vrook and Zhar. Zhar had always given the impression of a caring and empathetic instructor, but Revan could see through that easily. Zhar was quite full of himself. Master Vrook was just a pain to deal with. For hours upon hours, he would preach of the dangers of the dark side, to the point where any reasonable person would be angry. Then Vrook would notice the anger and lecture them about it. Vrook was no fool, but he and Revan never liked each other from the beginning. Revan had no issue with Master Dorak. Before Revan discovered his true identity, it was Dorak who educated him on the events that led up to the present war with Darth Malak, by discussing with him the original dissent that Revan and Malak practiced against the Council when the Mandalorians were attacking.

About Masters Vash and Atris, he knew next to nothing of. Bastila knew and had spent time training under Vash. As far as what he had heard from Bastila, Vash could probably be trusted, but once a decision by the Council was made, she would stand by it with the utmost of loyalty even if she did not like it. It was strange. Revan felt like he was about to defend Sunry to the Judicial Council on Manaan again, with the constant opportunity to poll each judge to figure out where they stood on the issue and how well his charisma was working. The Jedi Council seemed to be exactly like that.

Finally, Revan stood up and proceeded to the main hallway once again. With his eyes wide open and remaining fully concentrated and yet fully aware of his surroundings, Revan approached the door to the council chamber. With full confidence, Revan entered through the door. The debating council immediately went into full silence and gazed up at him. Revan walked over to the center of the chamber. He bowed to each of them.

"Greetings," said Zhar. "How can the council help you padawan?" Revan took a deep breath and peered his eyes around the room.

"Wise and valiant members of the Jedi council: Masters Vrook, Vandar, Zhar, Vash, Atris, and Dorak," said Revan as he looked at them individually as he said their titles and names. "I come to you with great humility and respect for there are matters that I wish to discuss with you. May I proceed?" The council members looked at each other. Revan noticed the subtle looks that each member gave to the other.

"Before you do," interjected Vandar. "There is something I would like to inform the rest of the council. "Revan has resurfaced. The Prodigal Knight who stands before us has learned of his true identity. Malak has been defeated and it was Revan who slew him. He has come to terms with it and the former Dark Lord of the Sith is no more. The quest for the Star Forge has tested Revan on countless occasions his resilience to the dark side. He even redeemed Bastila back to the light on the Star Forge itself. I know that this concerns some of you, but I believe that Revan is no longer the dark entity who nearly destroyed us all. He has earned my trust, and I believe that great things lie in his future." The rest of the council looked at each other. Atris and Vrook in particular gave each other very concerned looks. Lonna Vash did nothing but look up at Revan without a single hint of expression. Revan nodded to all of them.

"Thank you Master Vandar, but there is more that I wish to say. Permission to continue?" The council members looked at each other again and gave each other nods, not as subtle as before.

"Speak," said Zhar.

"I'm glad that Master Vandar pointed out my…accomplishments because I really don't think I could have done that myself. I first learned of my identity on the Leviathan when I first faced Malak. My memories have not returned to me, but I really do not wish them to because I hope to let my dark past stay forgotten. The Dark Lord is dead. I am who I am now. My name is Revan, and I am a full devoted servant of the light with unwavering loyalty. I know that my actions in the past were wrong and misguided, especially my role in the Mandalorian Wars, but I can assure you that my devotion to the light shall never falter, and my will shall never again be broken by the dark side. I ask you all, if my words do not sway you, let my actions do so. If your trust in me has been lost, let me earn it back. The Sith are still out there and in great numbers. Malak's defeat has crippled them severely but they shall return, perhaps stronger than before. Someone new will take Malak's place perhaps more powerful. As the soldiers of truth, justice, and peace, we cannot sit by and wait for the Sith to rise again. We must hit them while they are down. I implore you all to think about this, but no matter what happens, I trust in your greater wisdom."

"Exactly how much do you actually remember about being Dark lord?" asked Vash.

"Not much. A few flashes of my capture, and the Star Maps. That's really it."

"To re-earn a forsaken trust from the Jedi Order is no easy task. What if you were to betray us? What assurances do we have that you will not return to the dark side of the Force?" said Vrook. "You fell to the false promises of the dark side once, and although you have proven yourself most resilient to it so far, how do we know you can keep it up?"

"With respect master, you do not. You will only have proof when you yourself judge it as proof. I only hope that my recent actions as well as what I do in the future will help you change your mind about me."

"Be careful Revan," said Atris. "Be careful not to let arrogance and pride get the best of you, for it will surely bring you down again."

Revan was about to counter her statement, but Vandar interjected. "Mistress Atris," said Vandar. "Surely you realize that you're convictions against Revan are no longer valid. He sinned in the past, and we punished him for it. We took away his power, we stripped away the surface, and we allowed the same war hero to emerge again as a true servant of the light to make sure that we do not make the same mistake again. We did what we judged as the best thing to do, and I think Revan agrees and understands that we had no other choice. What would you have done with him Atris? Be mindful of your feelings here. The Sith are still out there, and we need Revan's help if we are to stop them."

"Enough," said Zhar. "We shall continue this discussion in private. Revan, please step outside. We will inform you of our decisions later."

"Of course Master," said Revan as he bowed. "Please excuse me." Revan turned and walked out the door into the hallway.

"I sense much danger within him," said Vrook. "I do not think we should allow him to become a Jedi Knight again. I don't trust him."

"Indeed," said Atris. "He is very persuasive, which makes him all the more dangerous. He is strong in the Force, but he does not know his own strengths. I fear he may be the end of us again, as he almost was a year ago. Did you not see behind his voice his will to wage war once again? I do not believe he has changed much."

"He only seems willing to go to war if it is necessary to stop the Sith," said Dorak. "Do not forget that the Sith are still our enemies. Revan is no longer one of them, and I think we should acknowledge that."

"Indeed," said Zhar. "The Sith will always grow in numbers as long as they have a dark master who spreads his influence on everyone else. Malak is dead, thanks to Revan, but we do not know all the details. Perhaps Malak was at Revan's mercy and Revan killed him anyway in cold blood. Then again, if he had done such a thing we could have sensed it. I believe that Revan should exist among us, but perhaps he should be watched carefully.

"Speculation at best Master Zhar," said Vandar quickly. "Do you not see the glow in his face? The aura he creates around him subconsciously? Do you not understand why he is such a strong leader? While he was a dangerous enemy, he has been redeemed. But what greater weapon is there than to turn an enemy to your cause? Revan has seen and experienced the darkest places of the galaxy. He is the perfect weapon to use against the Sith. He can lead an army to victory against impossible odds, he can defeat one as powerful as Darth Malak in single combat, and he has proven himself far more capable than any Jedi Knight the Order has ever trained, more powerful than some of us perhaps."

"And that is why he is still dangerous," said Vrook. "That is why we must hold him back and keep a close watch on him, to make sure that he does not become more powerful."

"But do you not see the problem with that Master Vrook?" said Vandar hastily. "What logic is there to hold back what could be the most powerful weapon you have on the slight chance that he could return to his evil ways, when A. He does not even remember his days as a Sith Lord; and B. He has proven himself to overcome the dark side and even redeem Bastila back to the light on a place as dark and deadly as the Star Forge. I was the only one here who has been to it. I could feel the dark presence of the Star Forge from very far away while in Admiral Dodonna's ship! Revan went into the heart of it, and defeated Lord Malak when he was at his height of power. Revan emerged victorious and completely unscathed by it. As I have said before, I trust him explicitly, and I think that you should too."

"Perhaps there is truth in what you say," said Atris very reluctantly. "Very well, let us restore his rank and Jedi Knight status to him, and then we shall discuss how to handle the Sith."

"I agree," said Vash.

"As do I," said Dorak.

"And I," said Zhar.

"Very well," said Vrook. "But for the record, I don't like it." Vandar hit the telecommunications button on the right arm of his chair.

"Revan?"

"Yes, Master Vandar," said Revan as if anticipating the call.

"Please return to the council chamber."

"Right away Master Vandar." Revan shut off the communication device and began to move. Revan had been sitting in the meditation chamber as the council was debating. Revan opened the door and walked in again. He bowed once more and stood at ease.

"Padawan," said Master Zhar in a familiar tone. Zhar stood up. "The council has reached its decision. We shall restore your Jedi Knight status as it was before the Mandalorian Wars. Know that some of us were very reluctant to do so. Do not abuse our trust. Let me be the first to say congratulations on a well earned victory, and welcome back to the Jedi Order." Zhar walked over to Revan and shook his hand firmly as they did when Revan joined the Jedi Order as a Padawan. Vandar, Dorak, and Vash also stood up and lined up to shake his hand. Vrook and Atris stood up and gave Revan a light smile and a nod of the head. "_That's probably the best I'm going to get from them,_" thought Revan as he shook Lonna Vash's hand.

"One more thing Masters," said Revan as they sat back down. "Have you come to a decision about what to do with the remaining Sith?"

"Patience Revan," said Atris. "We all agree that the Sith must be dealt with, but we have not come to terms with the specifics. Be careful not to dwell on this like you did with the Mandalorians. We shall keep you in the loop; That is a promise." The other masters nodded.

"Very well Masters," said Revan. "I shall leave you to your work, for I'm sure you all have plenty. I shall return to my affairs and await your decisions."

"May the Force be With You," said Dorak.

"And you," said Revan as he bowed to them one last time. Revan turned and walked out.

The elevator fell to the base at incredible speed as Revan sat inside meditating on Vandar's wisdom, with the duffle bag to his right. "_Major pain in the ass..._" he thought. "_Should I tell my crew of my visions? What would they think about it? More importantly should I tell Bastila?_" These were a few of the thoughts streaming through Revan's mind as the elevator sank to the ground. With no satisfying answer in mind, Revan walked out the elevator and back into the room of a thousand fountains. No further attention was necessary to Revan, so he quietly snuck out of the room while the crew told stories to the audience. Bastila and Juhani surprisingly were not there. Revan assumed that they were being fully debriefed by the other Jedi Masters, but it did not matter.

Revan entered the streets and melted into the crowd. There was no one to hide from, but perhaps a relaxing walk on the streets of Coruscant was exactly what he needed. His body and spirit was at peace while his mind was racing thoughts. It seemed overwhelming to Revan, yet soothing and easy at this point. During the Star Forge mission, he was always multitasking; with time not being a luxury having to do as much as possible all at the same time and get everything done right. It seemed that time was no longer a factor. Revan smiled and kept his head low as he walked slowly with the rest of the infinitely large group. Perhaps all Revan really needed was time. Perhaps now that Malak was dead, he had all the time in the universe to get his life back in order and live like a normal Jedi till the end of his life. That seemed fair, Revan had done so much and expected nothing in return, and it is only fair that he gets some time to himself. The thoughts of Vandar's wisdom and the debate inside his head were replaced by these happy thoughts. Everything was going perfect…

Suddenly Revan felt his nose start to bleed a little. Loud static noise filled inside his head and all thoughts halted. Revan opened his eyes widely and covered his ears but could not block the sound. "_A disturbance in the Force?_" thought Revan. "_This is unlike any other disturbance I've ever felt._"

As the sound faded away, Revan wiped the blood off his nose and turned around. He looked up over the heads of those behind him. The crowd of people anxiously began to part right in half, in the very middle of the road where Revan stood. A single figure was moving very fast through the crowd as they parted to suit her. Revan immediately jumped up and back-flipped over to the building on the left side of the street. The building had no balcony, so Revan stuck himself to the wall. Revan's eyes peered on the figure. It was a twi'lek woman running as fast as she possibly could. Not too far behind her, six dark figures were moving at an equivalent speed after her. These dark figures were the shape and stature of normal humans and presented no sensitivity in the Force, but they were nonetheless very agile beings. Revan deduced that they must be assassins, but of a kind he had never seen before. As the twi'lek ran past where Revan was initially standing, Revan stuck to the wall of the building and followed adjacent to the road.

The twi'lek ran with incredible speed and shoved herself straight through the crowd, even past the larger creatures that walked on the street. The six assassins began to gain on her as they did the same but weaved throughout the gaps in the crowd that were caused by her intervention. The twi'lek stopped at the entrance to a somewhat narrow alley on her right. She ducked under the heads of the crowd and popped up again in the alley while still crouching to avoid being sighted, but Revan could now see her a bit more closely. She looked familiar somehow, but Revan could not get a good look at her face. He only noticed that her skin was green. As the assassins passed the alleyway, it looked as if she would finally lose them. The twi'lek crouched there and simply watched as the first five passed her. The last assassin in the back was very close to the right alley, but he ran past without noticing she was there. The twi'lek grabbed him by both his shoulders and yanked him closer as she drove her left knee straight into his back. While keeping his broken body laid on her knee, she grabbed his chin with her right hand and the top of his head with her left. In a quick and ferocious twist, she snapped his neck and dropped him. The other five assassins had seen this and turned into the ally.

As she looked up to see them, Revan finally saw the red dot on her forehead and immediately recognized her from his dream. "_She must have been a Sith like me, and yet I feel no darkness within her…I feel something more but I cannot determine what it is. Will she need my help? She dispatched the first one pretty easily. Perhaps I should just see how this plays out,_" thought Revan. As Revan thought this the five assassins surrounded her in the alley. The back of the alley was a dead end. Three of the assassins stood in front of her. One stood at her left and another stood at her right. There was not much space between them, but enough so that they were out of contact so far. The assassins drew vibroblades from their belts in sync, and pointed the tips at her. The twi'lek drew a long lightsaber hilt hidden in her belt. With a quick and light motion, two silver blades snarled out of the hilt at once. She held her double-bladed lightsaber in front of her and stood at the ready to take them all at once.

The first assassin came to her from the left. The twi'lek Force pushed him back into the wall and with an aggressive launch, drove her right lightsaber blade straight through his skull. The one to her right came at her immediately and aimed a horizontal blow at her head. She blocked the blow and parried it away from her as she aimed a sidekick straight to his gut. The assassin cringed and bent over slightly. Without putting her left foot down, she whipped a hook kick straight at his face and knocked him flat on the ground unconscious. The other three finally came at her together at once. The one in the middle kept his vibroblade pointed straight at her chest as if to drive it straight through while the others aimed diagonal blows at her head. Switching to the defensive Shien stance, she parried the two blows from the left and right assassin and moved her saber to her left and upward to force back the middle blade. The assassins on the left and right raised their vibroblades high as if to strike at once while the middle assassin held his vibroblade above his head and began to swing in a looping downward motion. The twi'lek blocked all three blows at once holding her lightsaber high. The swords clashed, and the twi'lek outmatched by their strength ducked, and did a spin sweep kick that knocked all three assassins flat to the ground and caused them to drop their vibroblades. Facing them, the twi'lek jumped in the air with a front flip and landed her saber blade vertically into the neck of the assassin on the right. Keeping the blade scraping the ground, she lightly leapt over the other two dragging her saber over the ground and across their heads. With them dead, she stood up tall and switched off her lightsaber. Unbeknownst to her, the assassin she knocked out had regained consciousness and had risen to his feet again with his sword. He began to creep up behind her as she switched off her saber with his vibroblade held high with his hands…closer…and closer.

Without even thinking, Revan launched off the wall with all his might and flew over the street igniting the_ Heart of the Guardian_ and wielding it with both hands. As he landed, he swung the blade diagonally downward and to the left straight at the assassin's neck. Revan landed a couple meters past the assassin and remained crouched down. The assassin had stopped dead in his tracks. As Revan turned his head to look, the head of the assassin slid off the body and fell to the ground. The body of the assassin sank to both knees and then fell flat on the road.

For about thirty seconds, the twi'lek stood in utter shock staring at Revan. Her mouth was gaped open, her eyebrows raised high and her eyes open very wide. Revan gave her an odd look as he gazed his eyes at her, truly confirming his suspicions about seeing her before in his dreams. Nothing seemed familiar about her. To his utter surprise and confusion, she then bowed down to one knee and uttered eight words...

"My lord…it's good to see you again."

* * *

_We sincerely hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight."  
_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	4. Chapter 3: Crossed Paths

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black  
****

* * *

**

**Chapter 3**

**Crossed Paths

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**

"_My lord…it's good to see you again_."

"I'm sorry..." said Revan. "What?"

"Come on," the Twi'lek said. "We need to get out of here in case there are more of them out there."

She turned and started to run but Revan reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "You're not going anywhere," he said. "Not until you answer my questions. Who are you and how do you know me?"

"Revan..." the Twi'lek said. "You are indeed my master...Darth Revan?"

Revan put one hand behind his back, gripping _Heart of the Guardian_ again. "That depends on who's asking."

"Good joke my lord. It's me..." she said. "Lena...Lena Verado."

"I'm not joking," said Revan, his expression very serious. "Yeah okay, I am Revan. But I'm not a Sith Lord...not anymore. I'm a Jedi Knight."

Lena looked at Revan with the utmost bazaar expression. "I had heard something about that..." she said. "But knowing you, I would have never believed it. Though...now that I'm looking at you, there is something different about you." She briefly pondered that last statement.

"If I was your master," said Revan. "Then I'm sorry. If you think to bring the Sith Lord back, you've got the wrong man."

"'_If_ I was your master?'" she said. "Are you telling me you don't even remember your past? Did the Jedi have a hand in this?"

"I'm asking the questions," said Revan in a stern voice. "Don't worry...they're fairly straight forward. Why were those people attacking you?"

"Those weren't people," said Lena. "They're monsters, deadly in the Sith arts of assassination." She took a breath. "A lot more has changed than Cede told me...even after what I did," she mumbled. Revan barely heard it, but he didn't care.

"So you're a target of the Sith," said Revan. "Yet you used to serve me...I'm not following you here. Did Darth Malak capture you or something?"

Lena scoffed with a light laugh. "Malak couldn't capture me if he tried," she said. "This isn't even about him. This is about something much less immediate, but far worse...far deadlier than Malak ever could have been."

Revan rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. His right hand was still clutching _Heart of the Guardian_, but with a much more relaxed grip. There was no deception he could sense in her, but given the power he felt in her, she seemed capable of it. Looking at her was almost like staring into a small haven of the Force, an odd but similar feeling that he felt when he saw his armor again.

"I see," he finally said. "You and I clearly have a lot to discuss. As nice a job you did mopping up those goons, I'd rather you not have to do the same to the police when they get here. Let's go."

"Thanks for saving my life," said Lena. "I should add...for the sixteenth time."

"Forget it," said Revan as he begun moving. Lena followed his lead. "Since you've been through hell, I'll buy you a drink and I'll fill you in on what's happened...to the best of my bare bones knowledge."

"Sure," said Lena. "And don't worry. Right now, I feel like I'm still looking at my leader. I've got one hell of a story for you, but I promise you right now...none of this is made up."

"Yeah alright," said Revan. "Ten months back, I woke up aboard a Republic Vessel - the _Endar Spire_..."

* * *

_Meanwhile,_

The remnants of Malak's forces, being reduced to nearly a quarter of its original size dropped out of hyperspace in the Yavin System. They had been fleeing the Republic since the Battle of Rakata Prime and they were desperate to gain rest and recovery. As the Sith Flagship, the Leviathan led the other battered vessels closer into the system, finally eluding the Republic fleet.

"My lords, we've received word from Manaan. The Selkath and the Republic have assumed control of the planet and have shut down our kolto supply."

"No matter," said one of the three shadowed figures standing on the deck of the bridge. "There is nothing to achieve with direct confrontation now."

"Indeed," said another. "We must rally on Yavin IV at Exar Kun's Temple. We can recuperate there and figure out our next moves. We'll be damned if the Republic takes us."

The Sith fleet touched down on the jungle moon of Yavin IV around the dark Sith Temple and all slowly assembled on the surface of the moon in front of the temple. The Sith Troopers stood in perfectly formatted blocks before the structure. The remaining dark Jedi gathered on the lower levels of the temple. A single isle of space between the two main large blocks of Sith Soldiers was occupied by three dark figures walking together through and up the stairs of the temple to the second highest level.

The sun was brightly shining over the surface of the moon. It was the late afternoon and up on the temple, the three black dressed individuals turned and faced the silent masses. Simultaneously, all three of them slipped off their robes at once and the crowd began to roar. They were three dark Jedi. The one in front was dressed entirely in black and grey. the one behind him to the right was dressed in a somewhat bloody crimson outfit, while the other one in the back was dressed in a dark navy blue suit. Their eyes were red as the skies of Kessel as they loomed over the stagnant masses.

"_DARTH MALAK IS DEAD AND THE STAR FORGE HAS BEEN DESTROYED!_" yelled the gothic dark Jedi in the front, in an earth shattering voice that silenced the crowd once again. "We Sith are in disarray, but we shall return, ever stronger, and claim the galaxy for ours _once again_!" The crowd roared once more in passion and anger.

"We Sith never go long without newer and stronger leadership. Unless there is anyone who wishes to challenge the three of us, we shall assume full control, and lead the Sith to victory once again!"

"I may have something to say about that…" said a mysterious cryptic female voice from a higher point.

The three warriors spun around and drew their lightsabers. The black dressed one ignited his two sabers, the red dressed one ignited his double bladed lightsaber, while the dark blue one ignited a single blade. Five red beams all glowing as the sky began to turn red with the setting sun. The sight they saw standing above them nearly made them laugh hideously. An old woman stood at the very top of the temple. She was dressed entirely in black robes and a hood shielding her gray eyes. Her pose was not threatening, but it was not friendly either, for she left no sign of any intentions.

"Who are you, you old hag!" yelled the red dressed dark Jedi.

"And what chance do you think you have of overpowering us?" added the blue one.

"One you are not likely ever to see practice the rookie practices of direct confrontation again." "Tell me something. How familiar are you with the arts of betrayal?"

* * *

_Back on Coruscant…_

Revan had told the twi'lek the full story from his awakening on the _Endar Spire_ to Malak's defeat as they walked through the streets of Coruscant in the midst of the crowd.

"And you don't remember anything at all before that?"

"Small flashes and pieces of my previous life, but otherwise, nothing," lied Revan.

"Damn…this whole thing just got _a lot_ more complicated," said Lena. Revan laughed a little and rolled his eyes. They walked into the cantina on the left side of the street and sat down at a table, waiting for the waitress to come.

"Can I get you anything master Jedi?" said the waitress almost eagerly.

"A glass of Jawa Juice please," said Revan.

"Make that two," said Lena. "I could really use one after the hell I've been through," she whispered to Revan.

"Two Jawas coming right up;" The waitress left the table and went on to taking other orders.

"Alright Revan," she said. "I've been doing a little bit of thinking now that I finally know what happened to you. I have one question for you, in a small pattern I've detected in your epic adventure. Why exactly…did you only carry no more than two people with you at once?" Revan laughed.

"I was worried about tight corridors, if you know what I mean," said Revan. Lena laughed as the waitress returned with the drinks.

"Here you go my friends," said the waitress.

"Thank you," said Revan smiling. They took small sips out of their mugs but Revan could tell the Twi'lek was deeply pondered in her own thought and she was very difficult to read.

"I have come to the conclusion that while it may not be imperative to restore your memory, it is of absolute utter necessity that you be enlightened and prepared for the crisis to come." Revan nodded his head, looking at her with a spark of curiosity. "It concerns the True Sith; not Malak or any of these pitiful human dark side trash we've been fighting throughout our lives, I'm talking about an entire group of Force sensitives, fully adherent to the higher mysteries and the extensive power of the dark side.

"True Sith…" said Revan, looking at her even more curiously.

"Yes," said Lena, as she took another sip. "By the way, if I ever come across as pushy or stubborn...do not worry. I know."

* * *

_Meanwhile, on Exar Kun's Temple on Yavin IV_

The bodies of two of the three dark Jedi Masters lay decapitated on the summit of the temple; their heads had rolled down the steep stairs to the jungle floor. Kreia, otherwise known as Darth Traya stood at the top, holding the red dressed Sith in the air with a tight grip of the Force. As the dark Jedi helplessly lay suspended in the air, his eyes filled with tears of fear, she spoke.

"You are more worthless than a Jawa looking for loot!" she said. "Do not bother us again."

Kreia summoned her lightsaber back to her and threw it, impaling the red suited Sith straight in the chest. Kreia pulled the lightsaber out and dropped him lifelessly to the ground. She then put away her lightsaber and stood out before the bewildered crowd.

"You may now bow to me and address me as the Dark Lady of the Sith, for I am here to assume control of all of you in the name of the Sith Triumvirate." Kreia pointed at them with her right hand. "Bow!"

The crowd fell to their knees and bowed their heads down before their new leader.

"I am going to Malachor V, and you are all coming with me. If you do not, then I will break you, and then you will die a painful and regretful death. I grant mercy for no one! We leave tonight."

* * *

_Back in the cantina on Coruscant…_

"The threat of the True Sith was something that you discovered towards the end of the Mandalorian War, and when you assumed command of all of us, you became the Dark Lord of the "Sith" only out of necessity. You recognized this danger, but you had no knowledge of their whereabouts or their power. You did evil things, but it was all for the greater good."

"So…if that's the case…then I was never actually evil?" said Revan with a very surprised look on his face.

"That's right," said Lena. "I know this seems like a lot to take in, but I have been looking for you for a week now. I would not have done that if I didn't believe that it is your destiny to learn more, gain more, become more, and ultimately destroy what is without a doubt the greatest threat this galaxy has ever seen. Exar Kun, the Mandalorians, and Darth Malak are nothing compared to the real Sith. A single True Sith Warrior could take on at least four above average Jedi Knights…and there are thousands of True Sith out there." Revan raised his eyebrow.

"What about the Jedi Masters?"

"None of them would stand a chance," said Lena immediately. "They are too stodgy and arrogant in their radical light side ways to understand the power of the Force, let alone the power of the True Sith."

"I don't believe you, but whatever. I have never really liked the Jedi Council, especially Vrook. With the exception of Master Vandar, I never regarded them as anything special or anything worth learning much from except the ways of the light side of the Force in its early stages, but I never realized for a moment that they were actually wrong about me," said Revan.

"Revan you will find that just as a Jedi holds certain standards and qualifications far above that of a common soldier, the True Sith hold standards and qualifications far beyond anything a normal Jedi could ever achieve. However, for certain few people like you and I, it's much different. We gained our power during the Mandalorian War, and we discovered much more of the Force through combat than any of the Jedi Masters. For people who do not possess the attitude of the Jedi Masters and subjection to the will of the Force, there is so much more out there for them to discover. I discovered this somewhat by accident a short while ago, and I can teach you. I can train you to become more powerful than you ever have been before. I can show you the Force in ways that no Jedi or Sith ever could. I can make you see the Force for what it really is, but you must open your mind." Revan sighed deeply.

Revan looked at Lena with suspicion. "One does not just appear into someone else's life...again just for the sake of selflessly setting them in a new direction. What's your angle here?"

"No angle," said Lena. "I'm a soldier loyal to you, and only you. Even though you don't remember anything, you are still the only person I trust. I think that eventually your memories will start returning to you...if they haven't already. And I think that when they do, you will be even more confused than you are now. The Jedi wiped your mind, but they could never destroy who you really are."

"Okay," said Revan throwing up his arms, as if he was giving up at a game of dejarik. "There's something else I should probably tell you. During the journey back here on the Ebon Hawk, I had a long nightmare of a dream in which I saw a lot of things, including you."

"Yeah?" said Lena, hinting to Revan that she already knew.

"Yeah…" said Revan with a snigger. Revan explained in detail the visions he had aboard the _Ebon Hawk_.

"Did Bastila have this same dream?" she asked Revan laughed, because Vandar had asked him the exact same question when he explained it to him.

"No, I don't think she did. I've kept her in the dark about this, though I was probably going to tell her sooner or later."

"I can't say I'm sure of how this works exactly, but I'm speculating that this vision may be the start of memories slowly coming back to you." Revan nodded, unsure of what to make of that. Together they finished their mugs of Jawa Juice and set them down in front of them.

"Alright, this is a little hard for me to fully wrap my mind around, and I still do not trust you."

"I'd be disappointed if I could persuade you that easily," said Lena with a smile.

"So, here's a bunch of questions for you. Who are you? What special assignment did I send you on? How did I discover the True Sith? Enlighten me...would you?" The green twi'lek took a deep breath and looked into Revan's eyes.

"Alright Revan, I'll start by telling you my story from the start of the Mandalorian War up till now, which will probably answer most of your questions a lot better.

"_I was one of the first of the Jedi Guardians that you recruited to join the Republic…_"

* * *

_We apologize for the delay on this chapter. Thank you for continuing.  
_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	5. Chapter 4: The Forgotten Warrior

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black  
****

* * *

**

**Chapter 4**

**The Forgotten Warrior

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**

"I was among the first of the Jedi that you recruited to join the Republic for the Mandalorian War. I was born and raised as a slave on Tatooine. Arren Kae, my master freed me and then took me as her Padawan. As I recall, she taught you for a time, and then was under your command in the war. You may not remember her, but she was more of a mother to me than my real one.

"I was a Jedi Guardian…combat ready action junkie Lena Verado was my reputation. I enlisted to lead the ground forces, started out as a Lieutenant. I fought on Taris, Dagary Minor, Eres III, Dxun, Althir, and Malachor V. As our campaign progressed, I was promoted time and time again, eventually to the rank of Lieutenant General. You brought me on, but the only time I was actually under your command was at Althir toward the end of the war. I led the majority of the ground forces and we wiped them all out. I also stood at your side on the _Mandalore_, the flagship we seized at Malachor V; far enough away from the battle to not fall victim to what happened there. If you don't remember that, believe me…you probably don't want to. That's the kind of thing even Exar Kun would balk at. Otherwise, I was under the command of General Fenix, Katara Fenix, who was also my best friend when we were Jedi. Ask me to tell you some other stories of my exploits some time.

"At that point, I could not be happier that you trusted me enough to let me be at your side, otherwise I might have been one of the casualties of Malachor V…like my master Kae was. When we boarded the _Mandalore_, my job was to protect Bao-Dur, the Chief Engineer…though he probably did more to protect _me_, than I him. Needless to say, we destroyed the enemy, and the survivors, we set them loose with rags and their own personal sense of honor. Most of the Republic fleet sailed back to Coruscant, but the remaining Jedi as well as a few battalions of soldiers stayed on with you.

"In your victory speech, you spoke of how we were the new Sith, strengthened and tempered by the war. You spoke of how the Jedi had abandoned us…how they had failed to realize the weakness in their teachings, and how _they_ were the bigger threat to this galaxy that they were looking for. For the record…I still think you were right. But we jumped to hyperspace and set our fleet in the emptiest batch of space we could find in the boarder of the Unknown Regions. It was there where you summoned me to the bridge."

* * *

_Lena bowed._

"_Rise," said Revan. "Don't bother me with the salutation. I ordered everyone off this bridge, because what I am about to tell you is for your ears only. You are not to reveal this to anyone, not even to Malak. This comes straight from the top."_

"_You mean, from you…" Lena said in a cautious tone._

"_Yeah," said Revan. "From me; and please…stand as you were. I get tired of talking to people and not being able to see their faces."_

"_Okay…" Lena said, feeling rather awkward. She relaxed her stance, and Revan began to pace the floor, her eyes following him as he moved._

"_General Fenix is no longer with us…" said Revan. "I don't exactly know why…I have a theory, but I'm probably wrong. Not that it matters…I just figured you should hear that from me since I know how close the two of you were."_

"_Her loss if she doesn't want to stay," said Lena rather coldly. "She was a good soldier, and an even better General."_

"_That she was," said Revan. "She didn't look like she was all there when I was making that speech. It might be for the best that she isn't with us."_

"_Well, given the strength of that speech, I'd say you've got the loyalty of just about everyone else," said Lena. "Are we really going to start calling ourselves the new Sith though?"_

"_First rule of business," said Revan. "That speech was one big pile of bullshit." Lena looked very perplexed by that remark, but Revan went on. "It was an act, nothing to really be taken seriously. I just don't want them to know that."_

"_So…what are your intentions then?" said Lena. "That is, if you don't mind me asking."_

"_I don't mind you asking," said Revan. "The truth is, the Jedi were a lot more right than they think. There was a greater threat out there…but it's not me. It's not us, but I'm going to make it look like it is us."_

"_Umm...why, and if not us, then who?" stammered Lena._

"_Because the Jedi betrayed us," said Revan. "That is the one part of my speech that I fully stand by. They betrayed us, and they betrayed the Republic. The best of the Jedi joined us, and you know just as well as I do, we lost a lot of them."_

"_Too many," said Lena._

"_I'm going to make them pay for that," said Revan. "The galaxy will be a safer place without the Jedi around. The Republic will be stronger for it, and it will be ready for the real enemy."_

"_I don't understand," said Lena._

"_The real enemy," said Revan as he began to take off his mask. "Is the Sith."_

"_But if we aren't the new Sith, then doesn't that still make the Sith…dead?"_

"_Not the real ones," said Revan. He had now fully removed his mask and shown his face to Lena. This was a handsome face she had not seen in quite some time, but strangely enough, it was like nothing had changed. The scar on his eye was a fresh cut from the war, but by the way he looked, it was like the dark side of the Force had almost no sway over him. His expression was a calm and serene conflict between light and dark. "The real ones are here…somewhere in the Unknown Regions. They were behind the Mandalorians, and I suspect they were behind everything else."_

"_How exactly did you find out?" Lena was beginning to warm up to Revan's personality._

"_Kreia," said Revan. "The Trayus Academy on Malachor V isn't hers. It's been there for a while, my guess is that it was built by these True Sith. I've got no evidence on this; but I know it's true. We know more about the Mandalorians than most people. Does it really make sense for them to just wake up one day and decide to take over the galaxy and test their strength against impossible odds just for the hell of it? And think of the timing…of all the times they could have done this, they chose now. There's no real pattern."_

"_Why not just ask a Mandalorian?"_

"_Because they're brainwashed," said Revan. "They're not stupid…but I know brainwashed when I see it. And…"_

_Revan paused as the door to the bridge opened. "Excuse me, my lord? A moment of your…" _

_With insane reflexes, Revan Force grabbed the intruder and hauled him over. Revan clutched his lapel with a tireless fist and held his newly ignited red lightsaber at the man's throat. "What is so important that makes you risk your life in such a foolhardy manner?" he said with anger._

"_I'm sorry my lord!" the man begged. "Malak sent me…he wanted to see you!"_

"_Malak can wait!" Revan growled. "No disturbance means, NO DISTURBANCE! Make a mistake like that again, and I pluck you from head to toe in front of everyone…starting with your toe." Revan let him loose and the man ran off, closing the door behind him. "Dumbass," Revan said with a mild scowl to Lena._

"_You're serious about making these impressions," said Lena. Revan nodded. "So True Sith? I take it if they're the True Sith…that makes them the originals…which would make them old…older than the Jedi Order?"_

"_Probably," said Revan. "That is what I need you to find out. I don't want you here. You are different from the others. You can still think at least somewhat rationally and I can see by the way you move that the war hasn't gotten to you. You are driven by something else…that is why I have chosen you for this mission. I need you to find out what you can about this enemy, but I don't want you travelling into the abyss. There will be evidence of the True Sith in this galaxy. Find it."_

"_Any idea where to start?" said Lena._

"_Korriban; in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Something tells me that was a True Sith world at one point. It's just a theory, and it's probably wrong. You can leave whenever you're ready."_

"_I'll let you know," said Lena. "You won't be disappointed…I promise." Lena bowed again and turned. _

"_Lena!" said Revan loudly as he was putting his mask back on. Lena turned. "Trust no one. I don't know what awaits you, but this mission is more important than anything else. I have means to defeating this enemy, but even an infinite army couldn't go against something that they know nothing about. When you report to me, contact me on my discreet holochannel; 5JJ207."_

"_I understand," said Lena. Revan turned again with his arms crossed, staring out into the black abyss of space.

* * *

_

"I got to Korriban, explored the tombs, and found a few things. One was a holocron from Tulak Hord. The other was Naga Sadow's diary. That one led me to Dxun, into Freedon Nadd's tomb. I poked around quite a bit in there, struggling my way through the dark auras and Hssess around every corner. In the final room, there was a map blanketed around Nadd's corpse. Somehow, it was in very good shape…the map, that is.

"The map had a detailed take on the galaxy as we know it, but it also had the entire Unknown Regions charted out to the hyperspace coordinate. It almost looked like a galaxy outside of this one, but it's not. The Unknown Regions has kind of a core of its own…it's a planet called Voss. I'm not really sure how that works. Around it, there have got to be at least twenty systems. It doesn't seem like that big a place, but there are a few systems that are much farther away from others. I believe Rakata Prime is one of those systems.

"I tried calling you, but you didn't pick up, so I camped outside the tomb that night after programming all those planets into my ship's galaxy map.

"But when I awoke, I was not in my tent. I was lying on a hard metal floor, half naked in the dark. The Force within my body was tamed; sedated. I felt lightheaded and sick to my stomach. I couldn't escape…I couldn't even find the door. The walls seemed to be infinitely far away and so I sat there...helpless."

* * *

_A bright white light appeared, so strong that Lena shielded her eyes. A tall and bulky unknown figure entered the room and forced her into the air with a mere flick of the wrist. Lena could not identify the species of this creature nor could she recognize any of its features. The creature wore a large dark brown robe cloak over its head and body shielding its face and arms and legs. Lena noticed the long and razor sharp nails sticking out of the creature's six fingers. He bowed as he began to speak._

"_Greetings Lena Verado," said the creature in a dark and booming voice that echoed around the room. "Welcome…you are a guest of the Sith Empire. You have been meddling in places you do not belong, and it seems that you have sought us out, but the tables have turned. We have found you, and I welcome you…to the dark side of the Force."_

"_Where am I? Who are you?" The figure stomped on the ground with its right foot sending a shock wave across the floor that knocked Lena flat on her back. Lena groaned._

"_I'll ask the questions around here, thank you," snarled the creature._

"_You…you can't get away with this. I will break free eventually, and when I do I swear I shall find you and I'll kill you…whoever you are!"_

"_Brave words my beautiful friend," said the creature. "I have no doubt in my mind that you will break free. You will break free of the light and join us in the dark. Whether you wish to or not is irrelevant. You will break, and if you do not break then you will die of old age. No one will come for you. No one even knows where you are. No one will miss you. You…are mine! __Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!__"_

_As the maniacal and sadistic laughter continued, lightning flew from its fingers. The creature directed the electricity straight at Lena and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The lightning that made contact was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was raw electricity flowing along her bloodstream. She felt like she was on fire, and all she could do was roll on the floor, as if to try and extinguish it. She screamed and wailed in pain, but it was of no use. His barrage of electricity continued…I don't even know how long._

"_Now that you have been welcomed to our society as our guest, perhaps a friendlier and pleasant welcome is in order," said the creature sarcastically._

"_WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?__" Lena bellowed still cringing._

"_My my, no need to get so hot tempered so quickly," said the creature. "As you are now among us and you have no chance of ever leaving, I give you the opportunity to join us and our efforts." The creature walked closer to her as Lena attempted to crab walk backwards. As the creature came closer, his face became visible. Lena crab walked faster but she hit a hard wall behind her._

_The creature stopped and took a deep breath. Dark aural energies embellished the room as if his very presence was the pure essence of the dark side of the Force. The creature removed the hood over its face. His bright sulfuric eyes examined her figure as she stared straight into them utterly petrified. His face was a dark red colored, with and his head bore slightly downward slanted and Lena could see his neck with small sharp horns on both sides. His long sharp reptilian-like tail stuck out in the back underneath the cloak._

"_I am Rixxon Zazz, the Grand Sire of the True Sith. Bow before me." Lena did not budge. "__I said bow!__" boomed Zazz as he stared down at Lena, his eyes forcing Lena to kneel at his feet. Lena could not resist this benign power, but could only continue to breathe heavily as her body lay helpless at his command._

_Zazz stuck his arms out a bit that revealed the pointy dagger-like spikes out of his inner wrist. He clutched his cloak on both sides of his body and with no effort whatsoever, tore it to shreds, revealing his entire form before Lena. His figure was tall, grotesque, and mighty. His chest was broad and highly muscular. He bore an 8-pack of rock hard abdominal and thick veins stretched throughout his entire body that pulsed with a sickly noise. On his left shoulder was a set of two giant spikes that curved upward back towards his head creating a mantle-like effect around him. He bore two tall and thick muscular legs. Zazz was not nearly as wide as a rancor but his stature was nevertheless tall and overwhelmingly powerful. Over his chest he bore a long heavy chain that stretched from his left shoulder down to his right waist. At the point where the chain intersected with his belt was a uniquely shaped single bladed vibrosword. It was slightly longer than most vibroswords and its color was completely black and its handle bore a skull before the blade. Along with all this his body seemed to be surrounded in a dark purple aura that seemed somewhat bleak in appearance. As Lena stared at him horrified, he beckoned her to rise. Lena slowly got up to her feet._

"_At this moment you are being held in the most secure prison we have ever built. No one has ever broken free, nor will anyone. This is the planet Shikara, and we are the Sith; the most powerful beings in the galaxy. We can grant you power beyond your wildest imaginations. Anything you desire, anything you hunger and crave for can be yours if you but disregard your previous teachings of weakness and submit yourself to our will." Lena made no reply but an inconsiderate grunt. "Very well, the guards will feed you and clean you up. I'm sure by the time we are done with you, you'll have a different answer." Zazz walked out without closing the door.

* * *

_

"I'll just paint you a picture right now and tell you a little bit about the True Sith. Most of them have blue skin, though some are green. They look almost exactly like the Grand Sire, maybe a little bit shorter than him. I don't know if they have any weaknesses. The Warden, Dagron told me that the True Sith have been the driving force behind all of the bloody conflicts this galaxy has seen. I kept refusing his offer, and from that point on, it was torture…literally.

"You know that old expression the Sith like to use when they say what you consider torture, they consider to be mercy? Well, for the True Sith, this was the truth. What happened that first day was little compared to my overall imprisonment among the True Sith. What they did to me was beyond horrible. They would cut off my fingers and toes, and eventually arms and legs and then use the Force to make them grow back. With the use of vibroswords as opposed to lightsabers, this was pretty awful. They would reach into my chest and pull out my heart as it continued to beat, and then stick it back inside me.

"They were relentless and ever persistent, stopping at nothing to break me, but for some reason that even I cannot fully explain, I never did. Even as I endured, I remained utterly silent. I lost all track of time. I would silently weep, desperately crying out your name and for you to come and save me, though no sound was made. I spent four years in that prison…it felt like forty. In the times I was not tortured, I sat alone and in the dark, in deep utter silence. All I had was my soul and my sanity, and at times it didn't seem like I could hold on to these things. Sometimes I even wonder if everyone actually _does_ have a breaking point.

"At some point, I started thinking. I mean…clearly there had to be a reason behind this savage torture. It couldn't have been as simple as…join them and embrace the dark side, right? The meditation actually made the torture a lot easier to endure. I didn't let them catch on that I was getting used to it, but it was sort of…something to look forward to. I thought about everything in my cell after I'd get dragged; Arren Kae's teachings, the lessons I learned from war, the lessons I learned from you, and the words of the True Sith. It was not easy to figure out that there was a deeper meaning behind the Force, and I didn't even know if whatever conclusion I would reach would help me escape. I just felt like it was something I had to do. This is a subject for another time, but let's just say I found the answer, and on that night, I broke out."

* * *

_Lena's eyes opened and glowed pure white. It seemed to emanate from her body, and then disappear back inside of her. Lena felt no pain whatsoever, but felt free. This feeling struck her by surprise as it had been over four years since she could feel the Force, but she could now slowly feel it start to return to her. The drugs in her body could not have begun to wear off, for it had been too soon since they last put them in. The Force was returning, and it was stronger than ever. The first thing that happened was, the illusion of the room she was in disappeared. It was no larger than a six by eight meter room._

_Lena stood up tall and fully reborn in the middle of her cell as the dark shapes of human guards entered and stood no more than a foot away from her._

"_Feeling a little energetic today Miss Verado?" said the middle guard coldly._

"_Actually yes…yes I am," said Lena with a smile beginning to grow on her face._

"_Well, I'm sure our masters would be happy to relieve you of such content, but I guess we'll just have to do that instead." The other two guards grabbed her and slammed her against the wall with their hands firmly grasping her shoulders. "It's time for your medicine." He walked up slowly to her with a needle in his arm._

"_I don't think so." And with that, Lena head butted him straight in the nose. As the guard staggered back and began to wipe the blood off his nose, Lena jumped up and simultaneously kicked the other two guards on her sides straight in the gut. "You should have killed me a long time ago." Lena's eyes snapped open and blazed a sulfuric yellow. "__NOW YOU DIE!__" Channeling the Force through her right hand, all three guards were lifted up into the air and began chocking and clutching their necks. Lena guided them further upwards with the gentle movement of her hand, palm facing upwards. Then with a swift clenching of her fist, she Force crushed all three of the guards' windpipes and threw them down into the wall._

"_Game over," she said softly as her eyes changed back to their normal hazel green color and the darkness quieted within her._

_As Lena picked up the needle on the floor, she heard loud footsteps and sensed the presence of a Sith Warrior approaching._

"_WHAT IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD IS GOING ON HERE? INCOMPETENT IMBECILES!__" Lena pocketed the needle and stepped out of the cell as the Sith turned the corner and saw her standing there. "__You!__ What have you done with my slaves!__"_

"_I just gave them a taste of their own medicine," said Lena with a minor crack of laughter."_

"_No one defies the True Sith!" Without further conversation, the Sith pointed his fingertips at Lena. Lightning crackled through the air as he hurled the deadliest force of storm straight at her. For ten seconds, the entire hallway lit up in electricity and static. This Sith was exerting so much power that he could only see the figure of Lena standing in front of him and nothing else. When his barrage ended, Lena stood still as a statue completely unharmed by it. Unbeknownst to him, she had shielded herself from the storm with her power. "__What!__" bellowed the Sith Warrior._

"_My turn," said Lena, as she clapped her hands together. The ceiling and walls of the corridor where the Sith was standing collapsed and landed on him. The Sith Warrior growled painfully as the rubble landed on him and buried him alive. Lena turned and began to walk towards the armory which was on the other end of the hallway. As she began to move, she heard a small crackle behind her. The crackles became louder and more abundant as she turned. What looked like an explosion to Lena sent the rubble flying in all directions. Lena bent backwards as one large piece of rubble passed straight over her head. The Sith Warrior had emerged from the ground, very much alive and angry. He Force pulled his double edged vibrosword to him._

"_You underestimate the power of the True Sith!__ A mistake that shall be your last!__" screamed the Sith. The look on Lena's face became somewhat aggravated as she faced him. The Sith did not move, but a purple aura began to emit around the edges of his vibrosword. Before Lena could act, the aura shot like a projectile and hit Lena straight in the chest, an act that forced her all the way backwards into the wall. As Lena recovered, the Sith began to sprint towards her with his sword blazing. Lena began to charge straight towards him. When they got up close, Lena slid down underneath the Sith Warrior's legs. As she slid through them past him, she grabbed his ankles and with a quick movement, twisted them inwards and hoisted him flat on the ground, while still sliding beneath him. Kicking herself up to her feet, Lena turned to see the Sith attempting to get up. Using the Force, she hoisted him high up to the ceiling, and then slammed him down hard onto the floor. The Sith was still conscious but was groaning in pain, head on the floor. Still very slowly attempting to get up, Lena walked over to him and lay her right foot above his head. Her eyes turned to an abrasive gold color once again as she smashed her foot straight down onto his skull ending his life instantly. _

_As Lena's eyes turned back into her natural hazel green form, a strange feeling took Lena by surprise. Although she was above the will of the Force, the dark side of the Force somehow seemed so much more appealing now than it did before. Lena took a deep breath, realizing that she had to be more careful and that she could not continue losing herself to their own savagery. It was probably better not to blow up her way out._

_As she raised her head, she saw another Sith Warrior looking at her with an overbearingly evil grin._

"_Oh, come on really!"_

_Turning around, she dashed forward and turned right to a narrower corridor that led her to the armory. Entering the armory, Lena slammed the door shut and caught her breath. After sealing the door shut with the Force, she aimed a small shocking bolt at the rotating camera in the corner which had not yet detected her presence in the armory. Rummaging through all the lockers and supply bins inside, Lena found a small footlocker that had her possessions._

_The alarm went off, and Lena slipped in and out of the corridors with the stealth of a chameleon. The good thing was, the illusions did not extend to the hallway, and so Lena had gotten to know the place a little better over the years. She reached another hallway, as if to fall into a trap waiting for her._

_Guards began to fill the hallway as they raised their vibroswords in an effort to detain her. Lena moved quickly, but the guards amassed at the other side of the hallway and began to move towards her. Their expressions were that they were spoiling for a good fight that they had been deprived of for a long time. As the guards came at her, Lena, while still sprinting, ignited her double bladed lightsaber and wielded it in front. As she made contact with the first guard at her left, she blocked his first blow and sliced both his kneecaps. Without stopping in motion, Lena leaped up in the air and kicked the guard at her 12 o'clock. Using the strength of this kick to propel her motion, Lena flipped up in the air and ceiling crawled past them with all speed. The guards attempted to bring her down by throwing their vibroblades at her. Lena deflected and dodged each attempt as she moved past them. Dropping down and facing them, Lena clapped again and made the walls come together and crush the guards in her path. This also blocked any guard behind it from getting to her. As she neared the Warden's shuttle bay, the door opened, with Dagron coming out to greet her._

"_Leaving so soon?" said the Warden with a malicious grin. "We were just getting to know each other." Before Lena could reply, Dagron let out a tremendous high pitched Force howl that shook the very walls that Lena had brought down behind her. The scream was so terrifying that Lena sunk to her knees and covered her ears. It was one thing to hear an Ithorian scream. It was another thing to hear the roars of Malachor V when the Mass Shadow Generator went off, but this seemed like so much worse, and so much closer to death. In a last ditch effort, Lena took the needle out of her pocket and pitched it at him. The needle went into Dagron's neck and the scream stopped immediately. The drugs in the needle began to slowly work their way into Dagron's nerves and bloodstream. Dagron pulled it out but it was too late. Lena got to her feet while Dagron attempted to hit her with other Force attacks but it was futile. The impact of the needle had the same effect on Dagron as it had on Lena. It had halted the midichlorians in his cells and had interrupted his Force powers. Dagron grunted and drew his double edged vibrosword. Lena drew her blaster and began firing several shots straight at Dagron. Though his powers were halted, Dagron deflected her shots with ease with his vibrosword. Lena's eyebrow raised as she holstered her blaster._

"_You'll have to do better than that little girl!__" yelled Dagron has he charged her with a horrific roar. Lena drew and ignited her lightsaber once again and stood in the Form III Soresu stance. Lena backed up as Dagron bombarded her with blows from all angles. Lena blocked all of them with a degree of difficulty. With his strength, Dagron raised his sword high and brought it down at Lena's head. Lena held her saber high as she blocked it with her left blade. Blades clashed at the point that Dagron made contact with Lena. Dagron forced Lena's saber downwards towards her head, but Lena used this force against him and with her right blade, she made an attempt at his legs, but Dagron was too quick. Dagron jumped up in the air and aimed two diagonal blows at Lena. Raising her saber high, Lena blocked both shots with ease. With Dagron coming down, Lena charged and before Dagron could aim a downward stab at her, she swiftly severed his legs from his body and moved past him to avoid the downward strike. The vibrosword was stuck in the ground, but Dagron was in too much pain to try and get it out. Dagron howled and cried in agony as Lena switched off her saber and circled around to his front._

"_Fi…finish me!" said Dagron. Lena dealt him a swift kick in the face causing him to cough up a large amount of dry blood in his mouth and fall onto his back. Lena pulled Dagron's dagger out of his belt and slammed it straight into his throat. Dagron croaked and suffocated as Lena sprinted to the shuttle, leaving him to die a painful death._

_Lena entered the cockpit and began to look over herself with the controls. As she fired up the engines, a whole squad of guards busted came through the door and began firing at the ship. Lena turned the shuttle towards the city skyline, and ignited the afterburner, causing half the hanger to ignite in flames, incinerating a large portion of the guards.

* * *

_

"I have this little transmitter on my lightsaber that indicates the location of my ship. It turned out, my ship was just a few blocks away. I tracked it to the basement of a really tall skyscraper, one that didn't really have a foreseeable entrance. So I made one…

"I crashed one large hole on one side of the building, and then exited through another side of the building. That building didn't do anything to me; I just wanted to leave an impression upon them. I flew up as fast as I could, soon to find fighters chasing after me. I didn't even care enough to fight them; I just hit the hyperspace tunnels, praying that I didn't miss a calculation. Turns out…I didn't.

"Now in case you were wondering, my ship is the _Outrider._ It's not the prettiest ship in the Verse, but it's sneaky and fast enough to take me from A to B. Shikara was not too far away from Voss, but I found my way back into Republic space, only to find a fairly different looking galaxy. I heard some rumors that you were dead; others that you had become a Jedi again. Vice Admiral Cede was…kind enough to fill me on some of what had happened in the last few years. I learned about Malak's treachery, I learned about Telos, Taris, Dantooine...I really didn't know anything until you told me what you told me.

"I dropped the _Outrider_ off on Katarr, once I figured out that I was being tracked. I jumped ship and found my way here…only to also be followed. And that would be where I found you…or you found me; whatever you like."

Revan took a deep breath, taking in everything. He hadn't interrupted once, and it seemed quite believable, given Lena's knowledge. Then again, he really did not know what to make of this.

"I guess it's nice to know I was…as charming back then as I am now," said Revan. "That's…quite a story."

"Told you," said Lena with another smile. "But you don't believe it…"

"I didn't say that," said Revan.

"But you're thinking it," said Lena.

"I mean…" said Revan. "You're telling me, that the men who were chasing you, that you weren't Malak's men…they were instead pawns of a monstrous species of Force sensitives on the other side of this galaxy? What do you expect me to say to something like that?"

"I expect you to be able to figure out that I'm not lying to you," said Lena. "I served you in the Mandalorian War; that doesn't make me the bad girl. I'm the only one who knows about the real bad guys…I'd like to change that, and you're the only one I can trust. This was your assignment to me from the beginning. I have now returned to you, and this is what I found. I know the situation is different, but the True Sith don't care; and neither do I. You have to come with me."

"Just like that? Hell no," he said sternly. "Look…I understand where you're coming from, even if I don't believe all of it. But I've got obligations here…to the Jedi, to my crew…I can't help you. I'm sorry."

"You don't belong with them," said Lena. "You don't even like the Council. Don't take this the wrong way Revan, but you don't even belong with the light side of the Force. Ever since I've known you, the light and darkness have waged a constant battle in your heart, because just as I struggled for the answers in that dungeon, you too have struggled with this all your life."

"Malak said something similar," said Revan with a suspicious eye.

"I'm sure he would," said Lena. "He had known you longer than I had.

"So where do I stand then?" asked Revan. "Alone?"

"No," said Lena. "You will never be alone…if your crew isn't there to make sure of that, I will be. But you are destined for something greater. You are destined to prove both the Jedi and Sith wrong. And if you wish it so, I could teach you the way of the Force as it really is, and I can make you more powerful than you could ever imagine. This is no joke; this is the real deal.

"_Pain in the ass!_" thought Revan. "_Is she serious? Does she actually expect me to just go along with this? Then again, there is more to this than meets the eye…_"

* * *

_Thank you for continuing with "The Prodigal Knight". I would like to prematurely point out that in the near future, we will be delving deeply into a unique philosophy of the Force. We are very excited to present our thoughts to you, and we hope that you will continue reading._

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	6. Chapter 5: Disturbed Slumber

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black****

* * *

**

**Chapter 5**

**Disturbed Slumber

* * *

**

A Republic fleet began to move from Coruscant and exit the skies above. They began to jump to hyperspace en route to Yavin IV, after hearing reports of the Sith attempting to regroup on that planet. Carth Onasi had been promoted to Commander at almost the moment he returned to headquarters, and Admiral Dodonna assigned him and Vice Admiral Cede to oversee the mission of cleansing the remnants of Malak's forces. The other fleet, led by Colonel Lucius was following a band of fleeing Sith mercenaries to Jabim. Unfortunately for Revan, Carth was unable to say goodbye to the crew in obedience to his duty.

Back at the _Ebon Hawk_ the crew was hustling about, cleaning and checking over the ship. Mission sat in the cockpit, checking over the systems and assessing the minor damage the ship had taken in the battle over the Star Forge. T3-M4 had been tinkering with one of the computers in the common room for over an hour. Zaalbar was in the cargo hold looking over the supplies. Canderous had his hands on the workbench busy fixing and repairing the small armory of weapons the crew had acquired over the months previous. Meanwhile, HK-47 was bothering Canderous trying to instruct him on the proper ways of blaster repair.

"Clarification: Oh it is so simple, meatbag! Just rub oil on the cocker so you can properly and efficiently clean the inside of the blaster."

Canderous ignored him as he continued polishing and repairing the rifle.

"Hey Canderous," interrupted Mission.

"Yeah what do you want?" he growled.

"I need my blaster fixed. The _Ebon Hawk_ took a few dings on the outer hull and I need to get outside and buff them out. Take care of it?"

"Yeah, yeah fine. Just leave it on the bench. I'll get to it."

"Observation: By the time the Mandalorian meatbag is finished, age and deterioration of your fragile body shall hinder your ability to execute flawless assassinations by approximately sixty-two percent." Mission and Canderous both ignored the droid and continued their business without saying a word to each other.

Juhani was playing idly with the parts of her light saber unsure on what she wanted to do with them.

Finally, Bastila was by herself in the Starboard Dormitory mediating. Thinking about what all the others were trying to avoid thinking about.

What's next? Where will we go? Is Revan planning something? Are the Sith really gone? Why hasn't Revan come back yet? All these questions and more swirled around in the young Jedi's mind. But the question that plagued the crew the most was: "_Will we have to go our separate ways?_"

This brought a mild shiver down their backs. Though they did not always get along, they were loyal to the end. They had grown attached to each other over their many battles and hardships. They had a bond that allowed them to help each other overcome anything. Together there was nothing they couldn't do. It was almost equivalent to the bond that Revan and Bastila shared, though this was more of friendship that had slowly developed over a period of time, unlike the bond between Revan and Bastila that was instantly created two years ago.

But being separated was something they tried not think about. Even the droids felt it in their circuits. After they had all told their stories to the clamoring crowds at the Jedi temple, they had slipped out and returned to the _Ebon Hawk_ unsure of what to do next. This feeling was new to them. They had always had something to do and a plan to do it. It had been a while since they had time to just kick back and relax but it seemed that they were already missing what used to be.

Ever since the incident aboard the _Leviathan_ they had been pushing and working nonstop to find the last Star Map, and when Revan found it on Korriban the tomb of Naga Sadow they didn't even stop to resupply before they sped off for the Star Forge system. It was odd to lay back for them, a sweet pain in a way. It was a relief to get time off, but then again they were itching for action, ready to go at a moment's notice.

Bastila sat thinking on all this. Then she turned her mind towards trying to find where Revan was. Through the Force bond, she searched the city streets looking and looking, trying to pick up a thread on where Revan might be. There was something odd about this for her, because the Jedi council never tied up anyone's time for very long.

She finally found what she was looking for. She felt Revan's presence in one of the many cantinas that littered the streets of Coruscant. The sight of his presence calmed her mind but something else picked at her curiosity.

It seemed as if another very strong Force presence was there, but it was very well hidden. If it wasn't for all the experience she had gained over this long journey she wouldn't have been skilled enough to notice it. This presence drew her attention. She kept staring into it unable to discern it, but it was definitely distinctive and was not coming from Revan. Whoever it was, he or she seemed to know they were being watched, because it then began to become harder and harder to see. Then she was pulled out of her trance by Juhani shaking her shoulder.

"Bastila…Bastila!" Juhani said shaking her friends shoulder.

"Oh…yes?" Bastila said standing up.

"We have some lunch ready. If you're hungry…?" Juhani said.

"Oh…yeah alright I'll be out in a minute." Bastila replied still thinking about what she had seen.

"Bastila are you ok?" Juhani said noting the concern on Bastila's face.

"I'm fine…just wondering where he is." Bastila said looking away.

"Alright we will be in the commons when you're ready," Juhani said not really believing her.

As Juhani walked away Bastila thought to herself "_Be careful Revan_…_whatever you're doing…_"

_

* * *

_

Lena and Revan sat looking at each other for what seemed hours when in reality it was only moments. They were trying to read each others' thoughts. Neither proved very successful, Lena being shut out by Revan's sheer force of will and Revan being deflected by Lena's incredible skill.

"Revan if we are to meet this threat head on, we will need to start soon," said Lena, eager to break the silence despite her amusement at the battle of willpower. "The Sith are mobilizing and we need to…"

"You want me to leave them behind…don't you," said Revan. It was an itching thought in the inside of his head. It was quite obviously implied that Lena wanted to separate Revan from his crew at least a little bit, but her real intentions were quite a mystery. Lena sighed heavily.

"That would be for the best. Where we will walk…they cannot come. The Sith will only use them against you."

"I'm still not convinced," said Revan. "I mean…your timing was convenient because we just ended a war, but still…"

"You ended one war…there's another coming. You've grown more powerful, killing Malak is not an easy task for a Jedi. But it is an incredibly easy task to one who truly understands the Force."

"Are you saying the Jedi _don't_ understand the Force?"

"They understand one dimension of it," said Lena. "Sith understand a different dimension. And those who are neutral also understand another dimension. I…on the other hand, understand all three, and more."

"That's a fairly pretentious thing to say," said Revan in a cold voice. "Talking about how easy it is to kill Malak is not a very difficult thing to do when he's already dead."

"I'm well aware of that," said Lena. "Let me pose a question to you. What do you think your limits are?"

Revan was somewhat perplexed by the question. "Limits that I set for myself?"

"No no," said Lena. "If you had to fully demonstrate the magnitude of your power…what do you think you _could not_ do?"

Revan shrugged his shoulders. "By your explanation, a True Sith could probably toy with me. Is that the answer you're looking for?"

Lena shrugged her shoulders in response. "I just wanted your opinion; I think you're right…but only as you are now. There's a lot more I can tell you and teach you…but this is not the right environment."

Revan eyed Lena suspiciously again. "The right environment is somewhere alone…somewhere far enough away from civilization. You know…I've been in that kind of situation before. It doesn't usually turn out well."

"It will if you're with me."

"Fine," said Revan. "But I _will not_ leave without saying goodbye. I owe them that much." He was firm in his voice, but Lena expected nothing less.

"I didn't ask you to." Lena said with a smile. They got up and began walking out of the cantina. "But listen…I'm in a rush, but obviously you aren't. So let's leave tomorrow evening. Daytime, you can make up some story so you can make sure they clear the ship for us to take it."

"You don't think they deserve to know the truth?"

"_No!_" Lena said, stopping in the alley they were standing in, "They cannot know where you are going or what you are doing. It will only put them and us in danger. We have to consider the possibility that the Sith know that you and I have met and have already made you a target. Don't make it easier for them. You should know better; use your sense!"

Revan stared back into Lena's eye. "_Don't_ lecture me like that…" he said in his coldest voice ever. "I'm already risking a lot in going with you. You're lucky I'm a good student and not pretentious enough to think that I know everything. Half the reason I'm going with you is to see if you actually have any merit behind your words."

Lena nodded. "Yeah you are a good student," she conceded. "Fine…I'll save the lecturing till _after_ I prove to you that I'm not just talking shit."

Revan nodded. "Acceptable," he said. "But you underestimate them. They can help us."

"Revan, only a handful of people in the galaxy _could_ be of any help to us. Most of which are dead or in no position to help right now, but we don't even know who or where they are and how to find them." Lena said. This sounded cynical to Revan. She didn't even know any of them, so how could she automatically judge them unworthy of assistance?

But Revan didn't feel like arguing this point. It was definitely worth acknowledging that the crew would ask _a lot_ of questions about this; many of which even he would not be prepared to answer. This did after all sound a little crazy.

"Do we have any leads at all?" Revan said looking up and crossing his arms.

"All in due time. I'm sure if we need them, our paths will cross. But for now we must stick to the matter at hand. We should play it safe," Lena replied in her matter of fact tone. "Sleep on it, and make something up to your friends tomorrow." Revan's arms were still crossed as if he was expecting more. "I'll meet up with you tomorrow."

"Where should I meet you, and when?" Revan questioned.

"Don't worry," she said with a wink. "I'll find _you_." Lena disappeared as she walked backwards into the darkness of the alley.

It was getting late, and Revan still trying to wrap his mind around the days events headed back for the Jedi temple and the _Ebon Hawk_. "_They'll probably be wondering where I was all this time._" He thought to himself as he began to sprint back.

Revan came upon the Jedi temple, still sprinting and hoping to get back before sun set. By the time he had made it up to the landing pad, darkness had fallen. Revan skidded to a halt in front of the _Ebon Hawk_. He let out a heavy sigh and said to himself, "_Damn, I didn't mean to be out so late. They better be asleep._"

As Revan walked up the ramp of the _Ebon Hawk_ he paused for a moment and turned swiftly around. He had felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck, for it almost felt as if someone had been behind him. Looking side to side he walked backwards up the ramp. When he reached the top he closed the hatch and turned to see that most of the lights were off. Revan walked in the main room of the _Ebon Hawk_ and saw Bastila sitting in one of the chairs. He jumped in surprise when he saw her but quickly realized she was asleep due to the lack of him being scolded. Revan chuckled and rubbed the back of his head thinking that she must have stayed up to wait for him but fallen asleep.

Revan swiftly but quietly ran to the dormitory wing and found a blanket. He picked it up and put it over Bastila to keep her warm. She stirred a little as he did so. But she did not wake. Revan, content with his actions walked off to his own bed taking one last glance back at Bastila. When Revan came into the dorm room he saw Mission, Juhani, and Canderous asleep. He sighed, feeling bad for being out so late, as he slipped into his own bed.

"_I know I'm going to get yelled at in the morning but…_" Revan said to himself as he yawned. "_I'll cross that bridge when I get there._" He finished closing his eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep knowing full well he would have to leave his friends behind soon, something that was the farthest from what he wanted to do.

_

* * *

_

_Meanwhile, deep in the Unknown Regions…_

It was a moon of the planet Becton, a watchdog planet with a dry wasteland, home to small critters beneath the surface and the bulk of the True Sith military might. The moon was merely an intelligence outpost, useful only for monitoring activity near the planet, but it had several bunkers scattered across.

In one particular bunker – the second largest one, the facility was mostly empty. The main control room was a bloody mess. Human corpses littered the floor, and a small group of soldiers were dumping the bodies into a corner. Amongst the four True Sith in the room, all four of them were hanging limp from the ceiling fans, necks broken and their energy completely sapped. All the controls were left intact, but the commander of the room stood in front, watching another man reprogram the defense turrets to their advantage.

"Sir, with respect," said the man at the computer after finishing. "This seems more like a prank than an actual strategic ploy. While I'm going to very much enjoy watching this, if we're not even trying to take this moon, what's the point?"

"This is a small war, Garrisson," replied the commander. "And it's not going to get any bigger unless some bodies hit the floor." He looked behind him to see that the rest of the bodies were now piled up in the corner. "Is everything ready?"

"Self destruct proximity triggered," replied Garrisson. "Make contact?"

"Yes."

Garrisson activated the emergency transponder signal, relaying it to every other bunker on the moon. "Wait for it…"

"Bunker seven five, this is bunker seven seven. What is your emergency over?"

"_We're under attack!_" yelled the commander through the comm. in the most terrified voice he could. "_They've breached the perimeter! They're everywhere! Watch out! Left flank, left flank!_" and the commander broke the comm. A grin appeared on his face that matched the other men.

"They're going to wet themselves when they find this room," laughed one of the men.

"If they don't wet themselves first from the mines, turrets, and booby traps," replied another.

"Let Rork know we're on our way," said the commander. "And tell him that if the engines aren't primed by the time I get there, he cleans up the mess halls for a month."

As the squad moved out, the commander stayed behind to do one final thing. He stuck his vibroblades into the gut of the tallest True Sith hanging from the fan and he let the blood fall onto his hands until they were soaked in them. As he walked away, the blood still oozed endlessly, creating a puddle on the floor.

The commander moved to the cleanest wall and began writing on it with the blood. Twice he went back to soak his hands in the puddle for more until he finished. "_Disgusting…_" he thought as he left the room.

On the wall, the message was large in its writing. It said: SCARED YET?

* * *

_Thoughts of guilt and fear arose within him. Suddenly Revan found himself lying on his back in tall grass; he was shocked momentarily but sat up and shook it off. He stood up and beheld a glorious sight: A city, a beautiful shining white city. It looked like paradise: Tall towers stretching upward, life booming and echoing in every corner and beauty in every nook and cranny there was. Fields of green stretched in all directions around him. Something was vaguely familiar about this planet, but Revan couldn't put his finger on it. He saw some young kids in the distance playing in the fields, and he couldn't help but smile at them. This seemed like an idyllic place._

_"Too bad it's a dream, I'd like to stay here," Revan mused. Just then Revan heard an alarm go off. It was an air raid siren that sparked his attention immediately. Revan looked up and saw warships littering the sky. A great battle raged overhead, and explosions rang out in the open air. People could be seen running for cover towards the cities. Revan wanted to do something, to help those people but he was routed to a random spot and could do anything but stare at the panic and chaos that followed the eruption of the battle overhead._

_Revan turned his eyes away from the people he saw running for cover towards the cities, and stared up to the battle overhead. His eyes beamed towards the skies, trying to take a closer look as to what was actually going on? Suddenly, what looked like a Republic capital ship exploded, almost like it came from the inside. A fleet of black warships assembled together and reigned fire on another capital ship and the portside engine was targeted. A small combustion within the engine along with the extensive damage to the hull of the evading capital ship forced it down straight towards the planet. Revan watched as it fell with incredible speed, burning up in the atmosphere of the planet and crash landing right into a skyscraper. The building was immediately leveled and storms of dust and rubble flew out in all directions._

_Revan then saw what he thought to be another ship hurdling towards the ground, but as he focused his vision closer he realized it was a missile. He soon saw others jutting out from the clouds leaving blue vapor trails in their wake, rocketing towards the planet's surface. They were all headed for the cities. Revan watched in horror as the bombs came closer and closer to reaching their targets. Oddly enough, this place seemed even more familiar to Revan, now that it was being bombed into the past._

_He had no actual memory of this place, but the feeling he had inside of him was the same horror he felt from the first dream he experienced since the Star Forge. It was not a memory returning…only another vision. Suddenly it was revealed._

_"Serroco…!" Revan said in shock. Before Revan could finish his thought, the bombs made contact with the surface, creating a blast that was bigger and brighter than anything he had ever seen before. The shockwave began to emanate from the center of the nuclear blast, flattening the landscape and devastating all in its path. Cities were vaporized and people caught in the blast were burned alive. The shockwave reached Revan as he stared into the heart of the blast, into the heart of destruction. It blew Revan clean off his feet and he knew no more._

_Revan could not see but he began to hear. He heard a familiar voice. _

_"The galaxy would have fallen if Revan had not gone to war…" Revan began to gain feeling back into his body but he could still not see. "It is only through interaction, through decision and choice, through confrontation, physical or mental, that the Force can grow within you." He began to feel a cold hard floor beneath him. But he was still dazed and off balance._

_"Damn it! Not you again! KREIA! Show yourself!" Revan was immensely flustered already, for the voice of his old master that he had no memory of was more seething to his soul than the voice of Darth Malak._

_"Even then, you could see the Jedi he would slay etched on his soul." _

_Revan breathing heavily started to regain his sight. To his bewilderment he was in the Jedi Temple. He was lying on his back again with his legs bleeding, and he felt as if a sharp object had penetrated his left thigh. His ears were ringing, his head was concussive, and he could not move. Then he saw Mission run over to him and help him up._

_"Come on we have to get going!" yelled Mission as she tried lifting him to his feet. "They've breached the gate to the temple!" Mission said into his ear out of breath, looking as though she had just been through a rough fight. _

_"Mission…" said Revan in a tone of voice that was frail, matching the way he felt. "What's going on…who's attacking?" Revan was utterly bewildered. _

_"GET UP!" screamed Mission. "WE NEED TO GO! COME ON!" She yelled over the encroaching sounds of battle. She pulled Revan to his feet and pulled out her modified Sith sniper rifle. Revan's senses came back to him as she had managed to pull a piece of glass out of his thigh._

_"I'll cover you! Get to the gates and hold them off!" Mission yelled letting off several rounds from her rifle. Revan not wasting any more time asking about what was going on sprang into action. He felt a major adrenaline rush in his body, one that he had not felt since he fought on the Star Forge, but he was okay for the time being. _

_He ran up to the railing where Mission was perched, and looked out over the main hall. To his horror he saw hundreds of Sith soldiers and Dark Jedi fighting the Jedi and mixed in Republic forces. Acting fast, Revan took a couple of steps back and focused some energy into his feet. He sprinted toward the railing and when he stepped up onto it he leaped with such force off of it the railing cracked beneath his tread. Soaring through the air, Revan saw a group of Sith closing in on some Padawans below. The Padawan up front who stood bravely with his lightsaber, facing the enemy began backing up slightly, taking the other Padawans behind him too. A shot suddenly rang out and the young Jedi dropped dead to the floor. A small puddle of blood filled the area below his body as the Sith moved forth against the mortified apprentices._

_Revan, gathering energy into his fist, aimed himself towards the middle of the group of Sith. He landed and sent a shockwave knocking them over and without a moment's pause, the _Heart of the Guardian_ and _Mantle of the Force_ flew into Revan's out stretched hands. As the Sith rose off the ground Revan spun on his feet landing light but furiously quick blows to his enemies. _

_As soon as the Padawans were safe, he sprinted off towards the entrance to the Temple, cutting down each Sith in his path quickly and efficiently. As he reached the front of the building he saw Carth and HK-47 taking down the Sith in great numbers. Carth looked over to him and nodded in a sign of acknowledgement. _

_Revan, Carth, and HK-47 were soon standing back to back dodging blasts and killing the Sith by the dozens. Soon enough Revan saw all of his allies fighting around him except for Mission. Revan was caught up in the rush of battle, ducking weaving and cleaving war droids and Sith troopers to pieces. As he fought, he began to wonder if the battle was beginning to turn in his favor._

_Out of the corner of his eye, Revan saw a Dark Jedi bear down on Carth. Revan spun around in a dead sprint towards them. The Sith tripped Carth and knocked the gun out of his hands. As the red saber was ignited Revan felt a chill go up his spine, feeling the horror of the possibility that Carth would be no more. But as the Sith raised his saber, his head was suddenly pierced by a Sniper bolt that ripped straight through it. The blaster bolt flew through the Dark Jedi's head from the back and he sank to the floor completely lifeless. The caliber of the laser had caused the top of his head to be split open and Revan could see the dead man's brains oozing from his head._

_Revan's head looked in the direction of the shot and he saw Mission holding her rifle with the barrel smoking. She aimed another shot in Revan's direction and fired. Before Revan could react, the bolt went straight past him and landed into another Dark Jedi's chest that was coming up from behind._

_"Down they go!" she yelled. Carth smiled and nodded._

_Mission then cast aside her sniper and pulled her dual Mandalorian rippers off her belt, spinning them into her hands. She then jumped into the fray with the rest of the Ebon Hawk's crew, as did Carth who immediately shook it off. The fighting slowly began to calm down soon after and then there were no enemies left. Revan saw everyone around him standing and catching they're collective breaths. He ran over to her to see if Bastila was alright._

_As Revan walked over to Bastila to finally ask her what was going on, the ground shook violently. Everyone snapped back into action turning towards the direction of the shaking. _

_"Hold steady!" yelled Canderous. "We're not out of this yet!"_

_The group walked to the front steps and looked down them, seeing something frightening but familiar. They saw a large group of Sith masters followed by five Terentateks. Then suddenly, an explosion detonated in the wall behind them and another large squad of Sith troopers and war droids entered the temple._

_Revan charged and cut down several Sith masters, but was caught by surprise when a concussion blast went off next to him from an enemy grenade. He was then picked up by a Terentatek. The beast then proceeded to crush him between its massive claws. He then was dropped as he saw Juhani slashing the creature that was holding him a moment before. Revan was still reeling from the concussion wave. He then saw another Terentatek come up behind her._

_Revan let out a yell that went unheard as his friend and comrade was impaled by the creature's claws, and thrown whole bodily down the steps of the temple. Juhani landed at the base with three large deep gashes in her chest and appeared to be dead._

_As Revan got up, he suddenly found himself routed to a corner, helpless and unable to move. His enemies seemed to act as if he wasn't there. Revan stood helpless as he saw the rest of his friends begin to get massacred around him. Carth was cut down by an incoming Dark Jedi who had deflected all of his blasts. He fell, hitting the ground with a thud, blaster rolling out of his hand, and reaching his right arm out, begging for help. Bastila was struck by a sword from behind and fell to the floor, sobbing and crying out for Revan in her last breaths._

_"NO!" said Revan out loud, but none heard it. He could only continue to watch in horror. Mission's face was smashed against the wall and her left arm severed from her body. She lied on the floor weeping and bleeding profusely, silently approaching death._

_Despite what seemed like dozens of dead war droids around them, HK-47 and T3-M4 were ripped apart by a single Sith Lord. They were hacked and smashed into giant metal pulps and Revan could see T3-M4's blue eye and HK-47's red eyes slowly begin to fade to black._

_The Wookiee Zaalbar, who had been using one dead droid to bash other droids and soldiers was uplifted by a Sith Lord into the air. His eyes glowed yellow and his veins began to pulse heavily while Zaalbar desperately struggled to free himself. The Sith Lord let out a sadistic and maniacal laugh as he crushed the Wookiee's windpipe and dropped him to the ground._

_Then there was Canderous. The brave Mandalorian had been backed into a corner and was rapidly firing his heavy assault rifle. Wielding it like a turret, he mowed down all the troopers and droids that approached him. Several dark Jedi were also destroyed. Canderous continued firing until suddenly his ammunition clip had run out. Quickly checking his belt, he realized that he had none left. A trooper came at him but Canderous ducked a blow and bashed his head into the wall with his weapon. Throwing it down, Canderous picked up a Vibroblade from the dead soldier. He charged the ranks of the Sith, but his efforts turned to vein when he felt a red lightsaber blade shoot straight into his stomach. He looked at the Sith Lord and then down at the lightsaber in his blade. He roared in anger and fury as he punched him in the throat, damaging his windpipe. The Sith Lord staggered in shock that the Mandalorian had not yet died. Canderous then attempted to move forward, but the soldiers in front of him began firing rapid shots at him. His entire body became victim to blaster bolts and he fell to the ground, finally dead._

_Revan screamed and cried out loud, drowning in his agony. He clenched his face with his hands._

_"This is just a dream! It has to be! It can't be real!" he said out loud._

_Then Revan's vision was suddenly stricken from him and he blacked out. The voice rang out again._

_"It would have helped had he made her understand. But she was always strong-willed that one, and did not understand war as Revan did." Revan felt like he was walking, but just as before, his vision faded slowly back in. "It is such a quiet thing, to fall. But far more terrible is to admit it…" _

_"SHUT UP!" he bellowed to the nothingness he stood before. _

_Revan found himself not in control of himself but simply watching through his eyes. He was wearing some sort of mask, because his vision had a red tinge to it. _

_He walked down a large wide hallway, having no idea where he was. He turned and to his surprise saw Mission. This made him slightly less ambiguous about what was going on but horror soon flooded his senses once again when he saw what she had become. She was missing her left arm and had a gruesome looking machine in its place, with claws and what looked like weapons inside of it. Then her face…her beautiful young face was marred with scars and a mechanical left eye that had three large lenses spinning around each other. _

_A voice came from him but it didn't sound like his own, for it was raspy, dry, and much deeper than his own. _

_"_Mission I need you to oversee our ground forces for the invasion._" Revan said._

_"_Yes my Lord…_" she said as she bowed. "_I will drive a stake into the heart of the Sith capital and avenge our fallen friends. If it all works out, this war should be over by the end of the day. But they will pay…I'm going to make sure of it!_"_

_As Mission left his side Revan kept walking down the hallway. Revan was feeling afraid, of what he had said, and the fact he was watching helplessly out of his eyes, completely trapped. He walked out onto a balcony and to his astonishment saw ships mobilizing. It was a massive invasion fleet._

_As he looked out onto the ship yard, a figure approached him wearing a general's outfit. He saluted Revan as he walked up. _

_"_My Lord, the fleet is fully operational, and coordinates for the Sith capital are locked in. Your moment of glory is at hand, Sir. The Sith will fall before the might of the Republic and its new leader._"_

_"_I want to see their world burn for what they've taken from us._" Revan said slamming his fist on the railing. _

_"_Andyou will, sir. Your flagship is ready for takeoff when you are,_" The general replied._

_"_Dismissed,_" said Revan simply. _

_Revan's view then shifted to outside his body and he saw himself. His eyes met an unusual sight. It was Revan but in his old armor. Though it was the same fearsome armor he had worn in his earlier years, it was more decorative and almost regal in appearance. Then the other Revan shed off his mask and revealed his bright yellow basilisk eyes. Revan found himself staring into them, as the dark Revan spoke._

_"_The fools do not understand that I strayed so long ago. Mission was right. This war ends today, but not in our victory. They are all going to die…just like all the others…but not you. You will never escape this. You will never escape me. I am a part of you…I am you. And it is our destiny to rule this galaxy, and beyond. Hahahahahahahaha!_" _

_Revan felt sick to his stomach in seeing himself like that. He was too mortified to even think at the moment. His vision blurred again and as he attempted to gain consciousness of his surroundings, three cryptic words rung loudly through the thick air._

_"APATHY...IS...DEATH!"_

_

* * *

_

With a quick jolt to reality Revan awoke in the med bay held down by Mission, Zaalbar, and Canderous with Bastila and Juhani standing looking at him from across the room. He sat up, completely covered in his own sweat and breathing heavily. He lifted his shirt and began scanning himself for any wounds and scars and he flexed his muscles, but everything indicated that he was fine.

"Revan…Revan…_Revan!_" yelled all of them.

"Wh…what?"

"Are you alright?" said Mission in an exasperated tone..

"I…" Revan had no idea of what to say. "How long have you all been standing there?"

"I felt your thoughts were disturbed," said Bastila. "I woke the crew up and we took you to the med bay."

"Yeah," said Revan. "Bad dream again."

"We could tell," said Mission. "You were shaking so much that even Big Z had a hard time with you."

"Thanks," said Revan. "Really…but uh, I'll be alright. It was just a dream…thank the Force it was just a dream…"

"You want to talk about it?" asked Bastila while the others left.

"No, no," said Revan looking at her and flashing back to the sight of her getting brutally cut down. "I'll…you…you go get your rest. I'll be fine. I promise." Bastila leaned in and pecked his lips.

"You let me know if you change your mind," she said as she walked away.

Revan sat on the bed, looking all over the room, while attempting to reflect on this "bad dream."

"_Why couldn't I have just stayed on Serroco before the bombs started falling?_" he thought to himself. "_Is this the future? Am I actually going to lose all of them and fall down the dark path that I walked so long ago? Where the hell was Lena in all this!_" Revan sighed deeply and made a frustrated grunt.

"_What the hell's happening…?_"

* * *

_We hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	7. Chapter 6: Of Apathy and Choice

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black****

* * *

Chapter 6  
**

**Of Apathy and Choice

* * *

**

"Hmm," said Lena passing off like she was contemplating. Apparently she had an answer. "Apathy…"

"What?"

"Your dream…" Lena clarified. "That is what is most likely to happen to you and everyone else if you _don't_ come with me."

"You've got to be kidding me," said Revan rather stubbornly. "No way am I going to believe that."

"Have I made a single good joke since we reunited?" Revan knew that the answer was negative, but Lena persisted. "Bear with me here. Let's put this in some perspective."

* * *

_Seventy-two hours ago…_

Revan had woken up bright and early after that restless night. Everyone else was asleep, and as usual, HK-47 was guarding the door to the Med Bay. The droid was standing completely still, but the red eyes were still gleaming outward. Revan walked past the droid.

"Observation: Master, you are not particularly well rested for a hostile meatbag encounter. Query: Shall my blaster accompany you?"

"No thanks HK…" Revan said with a yawn. "Watch over the others for now. I'll be back."

Revan left the ship and began walking towards the Jedi Temple. His mind could hardly find any peace at the moment, for his thoughts were far too preoccupied. Always was he quick to analyze accurately a situation and act on his feet, but it was yet another recent time he felt lost. This vision was so similar, and yet so different from the one he experienced on the way to Coruscant, and he still wasn't sure to make of it. This vision seemed to delve into the past, present, and future; yet the previous one looked like it only dealt with the past…or so he thought.

"_Is this my future?_" That was the first question on his mind. The other question had to do with Lena. As he had asked himself right after the dream and was still asking himself…where was she? The answers to this dream had to lie with her, but a large part of Revan did not want to think that. There was still no comfort in the thought of leaving his friends behind, and he still felt that his hand was being yanked.

It was before dawn, and as Revan entered the Jedi Temple, he saw the padawans and the younglings awake and focused on their studies and techniques. But as he passed them, their eyes diverted to glance at him. It was still an oddity that Revan was such a celebrity among the Jedi at the time despite all that he had done in his past. Redemption must be a difficult process, but it is quite easy when one loses the memory of a dark past.

"Ah, good morning Revan," said Vandar. Revan again had to look down to see the Jedi Master right beside him. "How are you?"

"A little tired, but otherwise okay," said Revan. "Just trying to clear my head."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Vandar asked.

"Thank you Master but this is something I would prefer to handle myself. Besides…you've risked your neck with the Council enough just for me. It wouldn't be fair."

"You need not worry about that," said Vandar. "I know my place in the Order and the rest of the Council know theirs. It has been difficult coping as a Council, especially without Master Kavar. You never met him, but not too long after Dantooine was hit, he resigned his post and went to Onderon."

"Sounds like he was the smart one," mused Revan.

"Kavar is a military genius…just like you" said Vandar. "He kept optimism up and he kept Coruscant safe with his military expertise. But Kavar also felt that there were places in the Republic that were being ignored, places that in the long run could hinder the Republic's security and prosperity even further. Onderon was at the top of his list; so he left."

"I assume that back in my younger days, I knew him?"

"You did," said Vandar. "In fact, he was the only member of the Council who agreed with your decision to fight the Mandalorians."

"If that's the case, why didn't he join me?"

"That I do not know," said Vandar. "But I do know this; they will not let it show, but the Council has not completely gotten used to Kavar not being around. As such, the value of the current members is even greater. So do not worry about what they will try to do with me. I can handle them."

Revan was feeling a lot better as he walked with Vandar through the temple to listen to him. This was the only Jedi Master who actually cared about him, and though he didn't know it, Vandar was also helping Revan take his mind off his preoccupied thoughts. Vandar smiled and laughed slightly.

"What?" Revan asked.

"Occasionally," begun Vandar. "There are times when I believe the Jedi Order would be a much better place if you were on the Council. But I know you better, and I know the Council better. I suppose we cannot always get what we want."

"The politics would likely drive me crazy," said Revan. "It's something I just can't handle."

"Understandably so," said Vandar. "You are a man of action…the Council are mostly all talk. They would not grant you much mobility, but know this; your path is your own, and so long as I am on the Council, the Jedi will always be your ally."

"I appreciate it Master," said Revan. They had gotten back to the ground floor, in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. "I should be going," he said with another bow. Vandar nodded his head and Revan left the Temple.

On the street, Revan passed the same alley that he first met Lena in. He was surprised to see the bodies gone as well as the blood stains on the pavement and walls left by her impressive display, but he thought nothing of it. If more assassins were to come, they would not concern themselves with the proper disposal of their predecessors, so it had to have been done by local authorities or by Lena herself.

Revan pondered this, as well as his visions while walking the street and embedded in the chaos of the crowd. Before long, he found himself sitting on the ledge of a tall building looking out across the city. Something about the feeling of all the activity and life flowing through the city calmed him somehow.

"I've always admired the Coruscant view from this kind of angle." Revan felt himself jump at the familiar voice that projected inches away. He did not turn around, but he now knew that Lena was standing right behind him, and he had no idea for how long. "Beautiful…isn't it?"

"I'm not even going to ask how you found me," said Revan. "I saw you took care of those bodies."

"Yeah," said Lena. "Sooner or later the Jedi would have discovered them, and I couldn't let that happen."

"They'd likely arrest you," replied Revan.

"They could try." Lena's voice was a little cold and Revan did not know what to say. His questions were once again on how much he could trust her.

"For someone who wants the help of a Jedi Knight so badly, you certainly don't show the Order much respect."

"I'm not asking for the help of a Jedi Knight…" said Lena. "I'm asking for _your_ help. I know you don't think there's a difference…but believe me, there is. I've been a Jedi long enough to know how they work. They're all talk, most of them. They're strong to their convictions, to the point that it delays their action, even when it's right. Don't even get me started on their hand-ringing about the Mandalorians."

Revan and Lena were once again, walking the streets. "So let's say your story is true," said Revan. "Why'd you seek me out? Even after finding out about Malak, you still sought me out when most people thought I was dead. Why are you trying to get me involved?"

"What are you _really_ asking me?" asked Lena, which made Revan a little more frustrated.

"My point is…you could have disappeared. You could have found a cave on Dagobah, live in exile like your friend…you probably could have _found_ your friend. All the galactic troubles and Sith troubles, you'd be away from. You're a forgotten warrior; everyone who knows you thinks you're dead or MIA, and it doesn't seem like anyone cares enough to look."

"Yeah you have a point there," said Lena. "And come to think of it, why not? It might be nice…live peaceably without fear of being conquered or killed. Not a bad payoff to be tortured and preserved upon a thin string of life for four years and then get to retire early at peace and zen. Why shouldn't I go for it?"

"_I'm_ asking _you_ that question," said Revan.

"Would you?" retorted Lena.

Revan sighed again. "How about you stop hand-ringing _me_ and bluntly answer the damn question?"

"_My_ point was, I have my reasons. You would too if you've seen what I've seen and experienced all at what I have. I didn't mean to turn the question on you; I'm just saying, when you ask yourself the same question, an answer like this might not seem so crazy."

"I suppose…even if the whole galaxy was ignorant and apathetic to my existence, it is still worth fighting for. But in your case, you seem to think in a completely selfless manner, yet you hide from the Jedi, an organization which is built upon that principal of selflessness."

"That's because the Jedi Order is controlled by an aristocracy of selfishness and blindness. It doesn't help them that some of the main tracts of their philosophy are flawed, but they can't help me. I think you're the only person who can."

"Hey…" said Revan coldly. "If you've really been a Jedi long enough…you'd know that there are some redeemable aspects to them." He knew that Lena would still not see it that way. On the one hand, he knew that if the Council got their hands on Lena, there was no telling what they would do to her. But the element of redemption on Revan's mind was Vandar. Lena probably would not understand that, but it was still worth mentioning.

"I'm sure there are," said Lena somewhat cautiously. "But the hardcore Jedi don't know the galaxy they're fighting in. The way you told me about your actions on Korriban, I could not be more amazed that the Sith didn't figure out that you were a Jedi spy. You set a droid free, you turned three students away from the Sith, even through enduring a lot of pain on behalf of one of them. No wonder Malak was such an incompetent leader."

"So tell me something," said Revan. "What was Malak like back during the war?"

"He was capable, and good at what he did. His work was somewhat sloppy at times, but he knew how to get a job done, and _well_ for that matter. As the war progressed forward, he became a lot more arrogant. He got really accustomed to doing things his way, and while he was a skilled warrior and combatant, he just wasn't you."

"Alright stop," said Revan. "That's enough nice things to say about that son of a bitch for one lifetime. Now to business; you wanted to wait a day or so in case the Sith sent out more assassins for you. I think that's a mistake. Those men you killed won't report in, so the Sith will know you killed them. Your next move should be to get out of here before the next group gets close enough to pick up on your trail."

"You mean _our_ trail," said Lena. "Don't telling me sleeping on this has made you back down."

"You're still on this," said Revan feeling another surge of frustration. "Can't you tell that I'm really _not_ interested?"

"Not really," said Lena. "In fact, I can tell you _are_ interested and you've got some more questions. But I can only be of use to you if you give me your full attention. I'll need both your feet in the door at least for now, and to do that, you've got to come with me. The door doesn't lock behind you Revan…you can back out whenever you want. But do you really want to so hastily turn away what I'm trying to tell you, only to figure out a few years from now that I was right?"

"Fine," said Revan begrudgingly. "You've got my attention. Got any ideas for how I'm going to get you out of here?"

Revan and Lena continued walking the streets for another hour, discussing the plan for departure and how to deal with each one. It was strange for Revan to hear this, because even though his friends seemed to have problems with each other every now and then, they never had a problem with Revan, nor were they able to solve any of _his_ problems. It took him forever to find a way to get the rampant gizka off the ship. It also took him a painfully large amount of energy learning the Mandalorian language in order to communicate with the stowaway Sasha. None of his friends could offer help or guidance in dealing with these issues. Obviously they weren't personal or too emotionally conflicting problems, but they were problems nonetheless and Revan was forced to figure the solutions out on his own.

To make matters even more hassling, Revan's party had often brought _their_ problems to him. The long journey to find the Star Forge tested Revan's leadership skills in more ways than one, for he had been forced to help his companions to help themselves. Canderous had been challenged to a duel of honor with an old comrade who was presumed dead after the First Battle of Althir. Juhani came face to face with the racist Mandalorian who was responsible for murdering her father and purchasing her from the Exchange as a slave. Jolee became reunited with an old friend of his who was on trial on Manaan for a murder that he actually did commit. Mission found her long lost brother Griff on Tatooine, and discovered that he was actually a corrupt and greedy slime ball who took advantage of people for lucrative purposes. Carth finally found his son Dustil, who was training as a Sith student on Korriban. Bastila met her mother, whom she was not on good terms with as a child, and became heavily conflicted on finding the remains of her father and giving it back. All of these personal issues became a part of Revan's journey and his success at intelligently dealing with each problem was a factor in the respect he earned from them.

Midday was approaching, and Revan began to prepare himself for facing his friends as well as to make an initiative of seeing Master Vandar one last time.

* * *

_Eighteen hours ago…_

The _Ebon Hawk_ rested on the branches of kilometer-high trees near the Great Walkway, as the only space vessel granted clearance to dock on the planet of Kashyyyk. The loading ramp had been lowered and an entire tribe of wookiees were present to behold the return of one of their own.

Revan stepped out and was greeted by a hoard of celebratory growls and cheers. Freyyr, the chieftain of the tribe stood out in front and bowed before him. Revan respectfully returned the bow as two more passengers stepped off the ship. Zaalbar the wookiee and Mission Vao immediately approached the tribe and began embracing them one by one. Freyyr and Zaalbar exchanged the longest hug as father and son, and carried on a brief conversation in wookiee dialogue, which both Revan and Mission understood. As the rest of the tribe began to go back to the Great Walkway, Zaalbar, Mission, and Freyyr all approached Revan one last time.

"[You have returned my son to me,]" said Freyyr in his usual growling wookiee speak. "[You have my eternal thanks. Please extend my gratitude and respects to the others who were here with you…especially Jeeedi Bindo.]"

Revan nodded, though he knew that it was unlikely that he would ever see his old friend again. As Freyyr bowed once more and turned to depart with the tribe, Zaalbar came forward.

"Zaalbar," said Revan. "I know that you still have a life debt to me, until one of us stops living, but I want you to live your life here." Zaalbar was about to interject, but Revan continued. "You made a very difficult decision to come with me after what happened here. You served me and protected me well, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you." Zaalbar dried a single tear running down his cheek with his paw and made a sad hum. "But you have responsibilities to your real family now…and it seems that there are places I need to walk where you cannot come."

"[I still wish to serve you, as the debt of my life dictates,]" said Zaalbar. "[Are you sure this is what you wish? I can help you.]"

Revan smiled. "You promised your father that one day you would return to him. He's getting old; your family is going to need you. I always hoped that you would keep that promise. There may be a time that I shall return and call upon you again, but until then, my only wish is for you to be here…where you belong."

Revan extended his hand forward to shake his friend's, but the wookiee rushed forward and gave Revan a hug so tight, that if lifted off the ground.

"Told you Big Z was a big softy," said Mission with a smile. Revan could barely breathe, but he could still feel the love, so he didn't resist. Zaalbar put him down and Mission came forward.

Revan gave Zaalbar back the Bacca Ceremonial Blade. "I return to you the emblem of your authority in the wookiee tribe. May it serve you well."

"You're really leaving…aren't you," Mission said.

"Onto bigger and better things I hope," said Revan. "Hopefully Lena's got something interesting to say."

"Just be careful," she replied. "You know I've had a bad history with a twi'lek named Lena."

"This isn't the same Lena," said Revan.

"Yeah I know; I'm just saying…"

"Save it," said Revan. "I'll be fine."

"I'm really going to miss you," she said. She hugged Revan, a much lighter hug than Zaalbar's. "Thanks for everything," said Mission, more tears coming down.

"Take good care of him," said Revan. "And take good care of yourself. Brush your teeth, eat well, stay healthy."

"I'll miss you calling me a kid too," said Mission. "And I'll miss yelling at you that I ain't one."

"No matter how old you grow, you'll always be that street fighting girl I know and love." Mission blushed a little bit beneath the few tears she had on her face.

"Fine, but only because you and Carth know me so well; I'd still yell at Bastila for it." Mission winked and turned.

"May the Force be with you both," said Revan. As they moved away, Mission turned to say one more thing.

"If you don't return," said Mission. "I _will_ find you." Revan knew not to argue with that, so he didn't.

All that were left in the _Ebon Hawk_ were Revan, Lena, and the droids. The others had all stayed behind on Coruscant to resume or start up their duties.

"Statement: Master I am overjoyed to see us free of that hairy meatbag. I do not believe I mentioned this to you, but he always annoyed me the most. How can one so large, furry, and made up of so much soft liquid be physically stronger than _me?_ It brings quirks to my behavioral core." T3-M4 beeped in annoyance from nearby.

"Can we get the hell out of here now?" asked Lena, looking down at the ramp. "This place always gave me the chills."

"Yeah fine," said Revan. "Let's go."

After thirty seconds of priming the engines, Lena lifted the _Ebon Hawk_ off the ground and blasted towards the sky and out of the Kashyyyk atmosphere. Within minutes, the ship was in hyperspace, and heading towards a world that Lena pointed out as the best possible training grounds for students of the Force…Katarr.

* * *

_Fifteen minutes ago…_

The _Ebon Hawk_ had just touched down on the world of Katarr. It had landed on a large plateau a slight distance away from a small suburban community. The community was in a secluded area, and was completely dominated by the Miraluka species. These people were physically blind, but every one of them was Force-sensitive, and thus that was how they saw. The town had a few thousand of them, and it was one of many scattered around the planet. Each one was entirely self-sufficient and the Miraluka lived their lives in relative peace and comfort. The environment around the towns was mostly dominated by mountains, elevated terrain, and forests that lay between.

The _Ebon Hawk_ rested on a high plateau with a 360 degree view of their surroundings. They were close enough to the town to use it for supplies if they needed it, but also far enough away to conduct their business without attracting attention. Lena and Revan sat in the cockpit, while the two droids were on stand-by in the garage.

"Think I made the right call?" Revan asked Lena.

"I think it's good that you're looking out for your friends," she replied. "If Vandar convinces Dodonna to hire Canderous as a drill instructor, we might get a next generation of super-soldiers. As for how you bade the rest of your friends a farewell, I think it was for the best."

"I didn't bid them a farewell," snarled Revan. "If what you say is true and I do come with you back into the Unknown Regions, there's no way I'm going to do it without saying goodbye."

"Fair enough," said Lena.

"But my leaving is going to piss Vrook and Atris off quite a bit," said Revan. "Vandar understood and he'll cover for me as long as he can, but they'll find out eventually."

"I just wouldn't have brought them in the loop. I don't trust them enough," said Lena. "But that's just me. Now that we're here, why don't you tell me about that dream of yours?"

Revan talked for almost fifteen minutes straight without a single interruption from Lena. He carefully illustrated his dream in great detail, describing it in order of events as he remembered them. As he spoke, it seemed that Lena was listening and taking notes in her head.

"Oh yeah and, you weren't there. I never saw you or any trace of you." Lena nodded in understanding.

Revan did not know whether Lena was on to something, or whether she was just as confused as he was, and the thought of it worried him slightly. It was annoying not to be able to detect her presence through the Force, even if she was standing right next to him, but not being able to read her face was something Revan really had a hard time dealing with.

She hadn't said a word until now. "Hmm," she said, passing off like she was contemplating. Apparently she had an answer. "Apathy…"

"What?"

"Your dream…" Lena clarified. "That is what is most likely to happen to you and everyone else if you _don't_ come with me."

"You've got to be kidding me," said Revan rather stubbornly. "No way am I going to believe that."

"Have I made a single good joke since we reunited?" Revan knew that the answer was negative, but Lena persisted. "Bear with me here. Let's put this in some perspective."

"I'm listening," said Revan.

They ventured outside the ship and began roaming the large basin that they were mounted upon. From the basin, they could behold the beautiful view of Katarr from mountains to valleys to forests; it was a wonderful look at nature.

"So…you were saying something about apathy," said Revan.

"Yes I was," said Lena. "This vision has essentially stated what I have been saying this whole time, only in a much more personal way to appeal to you. I think that it is the living Force within you, sending you a message."

"And what does that message say?" asked Revan, unimpressed by Lena's answer.

"Let me ask you something," began Lena. "What's so damn special about a guy like you?"

"I've asked myself that question a lot, more-so before I found out I was Revan, but even since then, I still really don't know. I don't even think I am special. I'm just another Jedi Knight. My history of war and the dark side makes me unique, and maybe a little tougher than the rest, but I don't think I'm anything exceptional."

"History has always shined a bright light on the exceptional and extraordinary," said Lena. "Skill and experience is primarily what separates the ordinary and extraordinary. We're all unique; it's ordinary to be unique. It's one thing to be unique; it's another thing to be extraordinary.

"So many people look at you. What do they see? A warrior, a savior, a murderer, a hero, a villain, a Jedi Knight, a Sith Lord, a leader, a military genius; all of these people who see you differently disagree on how you are special. But what they all agree on is that you _are_ special. It's just a fact."

"If that's the case," said Revan. "Then the 'why' would not matter."

"It doesn't," said Lena. "It was more or less a hypothetical question, but I still wanted to know what you thought.

"It's the power of choice. You've made so many choices in your life. Think of all the things you've said, the things you've done, all those moments and memories of the life you know; you know yourself enough to be able to do that. The slightest change or different action would have shifted the recent events in a different path. There are so many paths you could have taken, so many choices you could have made differently. Think of the lives left altered by your actions. Every choice you've made, every decision and every action you've taken has affected and shaped what happens around you. You've got the ability to operate under inhuman amounts of stress and make far-sighted decisions in a manner that few others can. The decisions that you make affect the lives of so many, and this has always been the case. It's why your influence is so great. What you choose to do has a multiplier effect that can change the face of this galaxy."

"Don't you think you're exaggerating my importance just a little…?"

"And that's why this decision, one solely yours to make is absolutely critical. I make no apologies for the way I've dragged you with me so far. I needed to get your attention, and _only_ your attention. I have returned to you from the investigation you sent me on four years ago. This is my purpose. I understand that I can't nudge you or force you towards one path. I can teach you the ways of the Force that the Jedi and Sith would deem as inconceivable. I can fight beside you, I can be your loyal friend and confidant, but right now; I must show you the doors ahead. You're the one who has to pick one and walk through it. It's completely up to you, but your choices have consequences, and this dream of yours just illustrated one of those consequences pretty damn well."

"The way you've been describing my situation, it's like there are only two roads to choose from. I either follow you, which may risk the lives of my friends…or I don't and according to you, still risk the lives of my friends. Do I not have another option?"

"Of course not!" said Lena. "I guess you don't understand this dream." Revan wanted to scream, but Lena went on. "Fine, let's break it down. What was the first major event of your dream?"

"I was on Serroco on a nice sunny day, and then all of a sudden a space battle erupted and nukes fell from the sky."

"Okay, stop right there," said Lena, who seemed to be enjoying this. "This was a Mandalorian War battle that took place before you assumed command of the Republic. When it happened, you were observing off in a distance and the entire planet got glassed right before your eyes. This dream gave you the perspective of what this battle was like for those on the ground. You got knocked off your feet and thrown into another vision. These people got incinerated or died from radiation poisoning."

"So I was reminded of a previous battle. How does that prove I don't have a third option?"

But Lena ignored the question. "It was horrible, when it happened. Billions died, and that planet will probably never recover. This battle was part of your justification for entering the Mandalorian War against the council's orders. This battle is a point of proof that the Jedi council can be wrong and just as capable of injustice as the Sith. They sat back and did nothing, and they let this happen. There's this, there's Cathar, there's Jebble, and there's Althir, before we took it back. The Jedi cannot be trusted to always do the right thing; and this battle is proof of that. What happened next?"

"I heard Kreia's voice again…something about power through combat…"

"After that," said Lena hastily.

"The Jedi Temple got attacked and though I was able to kill some Sith, I was helpless when my friends got slaughtered one by one."

"Alright, perfect," said Lena. Revan gave her an odd look. "A couple questions on that. Where was the Council on that one?"

"They weren't there…I don't know if they ever were."

"Where could they have been?" Revan scowled at Lena's belittlement, but he cooperated.

"Knowing them, they can hold their own ground. If I were them, I'd be holding the front gates to protect everyone else, and give them time to escape out the back, where the entering numbers would be thinner. But…my party members were all at the front gates when they got killed, and no one came to their aid…including me."

"Keep going," said Lena.

"That means that either they were there and all died, or they were somewhere else. Either way, they couldn't help."

"Exactly…" said Lena with a smile. "The Jedi seem a bit useless to you now…don't they?"

"Maybe you don't make jokes, but you sure love to play games," retorted Revan.

"Understand that the True Sith are a different kind of enemy. Ask me about that later, because I owe you an explanation on that. But not now; there's one more element to that dream of yours. You realize that by taking the apathetic road…or the 'not following me' road, or whatever you want to call it, that your friends will die. But you must also realize that they will also have died in vain."

"What do you mean?"

"The last big part of your dream," said Lena. "What happened? You decided to take action _then_, to avenge your fallen comrades. Only Mission was left alive, but she was now half robot. When you looked at yourself, what happened?"

"Apparently the war was lost a long time ago, and I would be sending the Republic to their doom."

"Not only that," said Lena. "But this time…you fell to the dark side! This time, revenge and war overwhelmed you and caused you to fall beyond redemption! That never actually happened!"

"Assumptions, assumptions," said Revan. "But it doesn't matter whether or not it has happened before. What matters is, it does happen, and I can't stop it."

"You're right," said Lena.

"This dream really is about apathy…I can't believe I didn't figure that out. This whole time, I was thinking that if I _do_ go with you, that will happen. Apparently, it's the opposite."

"Apathy is death," said Lena.

Revan stumbled back and stared at Lena with shock. More importantly, he felt stupid because that was the real last part of his dream. Those were the last words he heard from Kreia before he awoke, and he forgot to tell Lena that. Now, it was like her dragging him around was justified.

"_Damn it!_" said Revan out loud before he felt a hand gently rest upon his shoulder.

"So you see Revan, it is not _leaving_ your friends right now that's going to get them all killed in the future. It's the exact opposite. If you take that path Revan and choose to ignore my warning there will be no going back, and I know in your heart of hearts you will regret it forever. I know you could never forgive yourself if you lost your friends that way." She circled to face him again. "You know what you have to do."

"_This twi'lek is pushy as hell!_" Revan thought. "_I better get my memories back soon. If I find out that she's lying to me after all this…I'll kill her._"

"You'll know the truth soon enough," said Lena, apparently sensing those thoughts. "And when you do, you'll thank me."

Revan gave another sigh. "I understand your position Lena. Fine, I'll do it. I cannot sit idly by when the Sith come in and start killing. You've got my head and my feet through the door. I am willing to learn from you, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to stop the True Sith. Train me in the higher mysteries of the Force, and I will not let you down."

Lena could see a small side of her former friend return as Revan as he spoke. It was quite comforting to her. "For what it's worth," she said. "I think you've made the right choice. We've got a lot of work to do, but time is on our side. Your training will begin tomorrow. Now, I say we eat…because I am hungry as hell."

The sun began to set over the horizon, sinking behind the mountains and slowly darkening the sky into the starry night.

* * *

_Back on Coruscant…_

"_He did WHAT!_" yelled Vrook.

"You just let him leave!" yelled Atris.

"How long have you known this Master Vandar?" asked Zhar with an air of frustration.

"I spoke to him briefly before he left," said Vandar.

"This is absolutely outrageous!" yelled Vrook. "We give him his knight status back, and he celebrates by just packing his things, kicking his crew off his ship, and leaving without telling us where he's going! I don't trust him!"

"Calm yourself Master Vrook," said Vash. "Master Vandar, why did you choose not to tell us?"

"I told him I'd hold off as a personal favor to him, and because I knew Vrook would throw a fit."

"Give me one good reason _not_ to!" said Vrook. "With all due respect Master Vandar, have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten the terrible deeds of Revan in the past? Have you forgotten how untamed he is? Have you noticed how he hides behind his noble words and uses them to his advantage? Have you…"

"_Vrook!_" yelled Vash. "Either hold your tongue, or step outside!"

"Master Vandar, while I do agree with where Master Vrook is coming from, I am concerned for the fact that you did not tell us this earlier," said Zhar.

"I could not agree more," said Atris. "Revan is a maverick, and a highly dangerous one. We should not have treated him so benevolently. He needs tight control and guidance. Now he's off to do whatever _he_ feels like doing…without our knowledge…just like before."

"Well Master Vandar?" said Zhar. "Surely you have something to say in yours or Revan's defense."

"Is that what you think I am?" asked Vandar as he stood from his seat. "You think I am Revan's own personal mind-controlled puppet, blindly defending his actions and covering for him? Sadly, you are mistaken."

"Mistaken how?" said Atris in more of a statement than a question. "You've taken his side in every debate and you've even spoken on his behalf. You put your trust in one who has betrayed us before!"

"Please, Mistress Atris," said Dorak, finally speaking. "Master Vandar deserves a chance to speak for himself."

"I see what with all your foresight and senses together, you cannot," said Vandar aggressively to the rest of the council. "None of you were present during the battle over Rakata Prime. None of you were present when Bastila began using her Battle Meditation and turned the tide of the fight. None of you were there when the Star Forge exploded. _I was!_

"No one is more aware of the implications of my actions and decisions than I," he continued, in a thundering voice. "But all of you are guilty and idiotically hypocritical. You let your emotions cloud your realities. I have seen firsthand what Revan is capable of doing, for good or evil. I observed the expressions on your faces when Revan made his case yesterday. None of you had the guts to look him straight in the eye when he spoke before you! None of you could see the truth and compassion behind his words. _I could!_

"You know the man's reputation. I know the man. The answer to your question Atris…when I look at Revan, I no longer see the monster that he once was. I see Revan for what he truly is...hope." Vandar looked around and made sure that all eyes were on him, which they were. With a deep sigh, he sat back down.

"I only _hope_ that you're right, Master Vandar," said Vrook. "For the sake of the galaxy, I really hope you're right."

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight"._

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	8. Chapter 7: The Power of Emotion

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black****

* * *

**

**Chapter 7**

**The Power of Emotion

* * *

**

Morning had come to Katarr. Revan had slept well that night, with enough energy to kick himself out of bed, fully awake, and ready. He figured Lena would have been up already.

There was always something about training that made him feel better. Even if it consisted of grueling exercises, he felt like he could always find and unleash himself when he did this. Though he had no memory of it, Revan had extensively trained under several masters and mentors before the Mandalorian War. All he could remember was that his more recent training with the Jedi Order. He trained under Masters Zhar, Vrook, Dorak, and Vandar while on Dantooine. Even though it was one of the easiest nine weeks in his conscious life, it felt great to be learning new things on the path he walked again.

But Revan felt like he got even more out of training himself while on the Star Forge mission. During the days between the journey, when he wasn't off solving the problems of the crew or trying to woo Bastila into embracing the love he knew they both shared, he would simply sit in a chair in the cargo hold with the lights off, and he would think. Sometimes he would think about the mission, the Force, he would think in hindsight as to what he could have done in the recent past. Then there were other times when he would try and paint a mental image of some of the worst possible situations he could ever get himself into, and then he would try to figure out ways to solve them. Aside from swoop racing and playing board or card games, training and thinking was Revan's pastime.

Revan exited his dormitory, dressed in casual Jedi clothing. As usual, HK-47 was standing on guard outside.

"Morning HK," said Revan. The droid made no response, and Revan became curious as to what was going on. "What are you up to?"

"Answer: Why Master, my behavioral core glows with the great anticipation of witnessing you perform acts of unadulterated violence."

"We're just training," said Revan. "I doubt we'll be doing any head crushing today."

Revan knew he should have expected hearing that kind of answer from his own assassin droid. Nit the trigger happy machine continued. "Statement: Nonetheless Master, this meatbag 'Lena' is a new challenge for you. I look forward to seeing how you will overcome her with your superior combat protocols."

"I'll try not to disappoint," said Revan with a smirk.

Revan moved from the ship first and HK-47 followed. T3-M4 was already outside. Lena was suspended a few inches off the ground in meditation. As Revan neared her, she still did not stir.

"Alright," said Revan. "Let's do this."

The aura around Lena waned slowly, but Lena still did not move from her spot. "Are you sure you're ready?" she said.

"Yeah," said Revan. "You've got me curious now. I'm ready."

But from Revan's behind, another voice came out into the open. "Are you _really_ ready?" Revan was shocked to see Lena standing on the top of the _Ebon Hawk_ and staring down at him. His head darted back and forth from the Lena in front to the Lena behind him. There were two of them. The other Lena jumped down from the ship and moved over to where Lena was originally meditating. Revan took a few steps back to see the two identical Lenas.

"Alright," said Revan. "Well now I'm _awake_ but still ready."

"There are…exotic techniques within the Force…" said the first Lena.

"…that the Jedi would deem unfathomable," said the second. "This is one of them."

"This little trick was to catch you off guard," said the first Lena.

"To…you know, whet your appetite?" suggested the second. Revan was still staring at both of them, trying to make sure that he wasn't losing his mind.

"I'm thinking it's working…" said Revan.

"I'm the real Lena," said the first. "This is a doppelganger. A little trick I learned not too long ago."

"Can you make more than one?"

"She can," said the doppelganger.

"Strange…" Revan muttered.

"Not really," said the doppelganger. "I prefer…exotic."

"Let's begin," said both Lenas simultaneously

Revan cracked his knuckles and sprang up to his feet. He stood facing the two Lena's as he drew his lightsabers, _Heart of the Guardian_, and _Mantle of the Force_. Both Lena's drew their lightsabers and activated a single blade. They began advancing on him, but Revan was quick to take initiative, and charged.

Revan swung the _Heart of the Guardian_ and aimed a sideways blow at Lena's stomach as the _Mantle of the Force_ clashed with Lena's single blade and pushed it away. Lena cringed and slightly bent forward, the bronze blade barely breezing her shirt. At the same time, the doppelganger knocked away the _Mantle of the Force_ while twirling her blade in the air. Before Revan could attack her again, Lena swung horizontally at Revan's feet. Revan jumped in the air and gracefully parried a flurry of four blows from both Lena's while landing. Revan aimed a hammering and whipping strike with his lightsabers downward towards both Lena's heads and arms. Lena ducked almost completely to the ground, while the doppelganger made a simple blocking motion, as Revan fluidly raised his sabers high and aimed them downward at her. Lena rolled to the right and from the ground, used her legs to grab Revan's left leg, wrapping her right foot pressing against his calf, and using her left leg to buckle Revan with lightning speed. Caught off guard, Revan sank straight to the ground and landed flat on his back, sabers deactivating and falling out of his hands. He looked up to see the doppelganger standing over him with her blade at his neck.

"_Damn, Lena seems to take good advantage of her duplicate as a distraction,_" thought Revan as he lay on the ground.

"Get up Revan. You'll have to do _a lot_ better than that," said Lena. The doppelganger extended her hand out and grabbed his own, pulling him up, almost dislocating his shoulder. Both Lena's walked a few meters away from Revan on opposite sides. As they did this Revan stood up and summoned his sabers back into his hands. He activated them as he took his stance.

"Now let's see if we can't get a decent fight out of you yet," both Lena's said with enthusiasm.

* * *

_Somewhere in the Unknown Regions…_

A small fleet of seven large capital dreadnoughts hardened and in wedge formation streamed slowly through a patch of radar emptiness. The most uniquely crafted flagship bore no flag but guided the fleet at the helm.

"What have you got?" said the master and commander of the fleet – Amicus Trek in his dark office in communication with two other ship commanders.

"A ship of people who've stopped thinking that space is cold…"

"Yeah I've got the same story from Knox, Temple, and Moran. Overpopulation…" The other commander nodded. "Rainer?"

The other commander began to speak. "Picked up a funny news story over the network – since that little prank we pulled on the Becton moon the bounty on your head has gone up a few hundred thousand bonds."

"Good," said Trek. "But we can't remain low forever. That's how rebellions die. You two have been made point-men on the investigation for another ship for our fleet. I'm going to need results."

"It's like I said," replied Rainer. "The ships ripest for the taking come off the assembly line…but the Sith have taken security measures to brace for ambushes from pirates and people like us. We're going to have to lay low for a while and wait for them to ease up…and then wait for an actual ship to get damaged. If we try and force all that to happen quickly, they'll get a whiff of that and stop us."

The commander cursed under his breath. He knew that Rainer was right but it simply wasn't in his character to wait patiently either. "Alright, here's what we're going to do. While we wait for signs of a good dreadnought we can steal, I have another op in mind but it will require a small Dagger Class Shuttle from the Sith. Madds, you're in charge of this…"

"I've got someone who can do the job," said Madds. Trek raised his eyebrow with interest but he went on. "Sergeant Clieve Vesta – young, talented, fresh."

"Good," said Trek. "See to it that he has whatever he needs to pull this off."

* * *

For six long months, Revan had woken up each morning feeling sore and worn out from the previous day's worth of training. Lena's instructions and methods of drilling were difficult, to say the least. She was tough, relentless, and seemingly merciless. Usually, for at least a small portion of the day, Revan was forced to take on both Lena as well as at least one doppelganger of Lena. Revan had found this especially challenging, for the identical matches of his opponent caused a much bigger distraction than usual, and these doppelgangers were very good at sneaking up on him. They seemed to be able to just disappear and reappear somewhere else, and it caused Revan an intense amount of frustration.

Lena seemed to know what Revan was capable of, and even if Revan did not think he could go on, she always kept pushing, and she never stopped until the task was complete. She constantly tested his skill with a lightsaber, his awareness, his physical fitness, his Force powers and ability to use them; any possible exploitable weakness she saw was tackled. No boot camp with the Republic or Jedi training on Dantooine could even slightly compare to the kind of work he was doing here. The exercises were grueling and damn near impossible. Lena had made it very clear in the beginning, that she needed to see fully for herself what Revan fought like and what he was capable of before she proceeded any further.

Ninety percent of the time, Revan made no commentary or complaint at all; he just put up with it. But Revan did remember making one remark about her toughness as a teacher, and Lena had given a quick witted quip, shutting him up. "I'm training a former Sith Lord…lower standards would be boring!"

On that same day, Revan had been tasked with using the Force to speed dash straight up a vertical mountain wall for almost one hundred meters, fight and defeat the two doppelgangers at the top, do the same thing up another vertical mountain wall on top of that, fight and defeat two more doppelgangers at the top, run up a final vertical mountain wall on top of that, and fight Lena herself at the mountain's summit.

On each day that Revan was training, his body and mind were stretched and flexed to their absolute peak, and yet somehow he found the strength to endure. No two exercises were ever the same. The next day, Lena took away Revan's lightsabers and made him strip half-naked. Then she made him go up against a pack of five wild rancors. Then after defeating them, he had the task of running back to the campsite with a rancor carcass strapped to his bare back, and she made him do this for all five rancors non-stop. While these training exercises were highly intense and highly dangerous, Lena had kept a sharp eye on Revan and watched him the whole time, and to both of their surprises, Revan emerged from these activities relatively unharmed. She never found the need to help or save him, for he was capable of handling himself just fine. The few cuts, scrapes, and scratches that he caught were easily treatable and did not interfere with his training.

On a different day, Lena plugged Revan's ears deaf, blindfolded him, and made him fight three doppelgangers at once. On another day, she fought Revan one on one, except they switched lightsabers or fought hand to hand. These were the simpler exercises, but a challenge for Revan nonetheless. Over time, Revan had gotten fairly used to fighting the doppelgangers, as he fought them much more often than when he fought Lena herself. Though the doppelgangers did something different every time, Revan was able to adapt, and it seemed that it would only be a matter of time till he would be able to defeat a whole army of them by himself. HK-47 was often a spectator for these training runs, and it seemed to enjoy every second of it. Every time Revan would get hit or land a hit, its behavioral core would glowed amusement.

However, the days that he was resting and not training in, Lena was still damn near impossible to live with. She was messy, stubborn, and in his face more than often. In a strange way, this reminded Revan of Canderous, and he often thought to himself how great a drill instructor Canderous would make for the Republic.

Lena was fairly lazy on the relaxation days. Revan could hardly get her awake before noon. She spent a lot of time talking to HK-47 about combat and effective methods of killing. It seemed that the sadistic hunter killer droid was in paradise, for its behavioral core glowed brighter than it ever had before. Lena also spent some time talking to T3-M4, in an effort to learn more about the droid's language and understand it more. She was actually able to catch on fairly quickly and was able to understand small garbled bits that the droid emitted but she was clearly no match for Revan in that field of study.

But Lena was not completely lazy. In the times of relaxation, or if Revan was ever training with just a doppelganger or doing a repetitious physical workout, Lena herself meditated, but even more often studied the lightsaber teachings from Tulak Hord's holocron. Revan often noticed her taking her double bladed lightsaber apart and training with two dual blades, or a single hilt just as much as she trained with a double, and it was entertaining, seeing her practice and get good at some of the highly advanced and unorthodox teachings of the ancient Sith Lord in the ways of lightsaber combat. It made Revan feel good, that even though he went through hell, Lena was just as much a student as he was; just a student who's a few steps ahead. Over time, Revan just got used to her being around, and strangely enough, he even came to enjoy her presence.

Six months had passed, and Revan woke up on the next day, much sorer than usual, expecting another day of rigorous training. Over time he seemed to have gotten used to it, but the training exercise of speed jumping and evasion against a whole squad of doppelgangers without a lightsaber had gone into the night, and Revan had not managed to get a lot of rest. Nevertheless, he got himself up and headed outside to find Lena and whatever surprise she had in store for him next. When he saw her, he looked around and scanned the area as best he could, but saw nothing; only her. She stood facing him, in a pose that made Revan wonder if she was about to scold or lecture him about something.

"Well Revan," said Lena. "Congratulations of six months in dealing with me. I know that couldn't have been easy."

"You grew on me a little," said Revan.

"That's good to hear," she replied. "I'd like you to share with me what you've learned."

"What _I've_ learned?"

"Yeah," said Lena. "It's been six months of almost nonstop drilling. Clearly you must have learned something."

"I thought it was just a test," said Revan.

"If that's what you want to call it, sure," said Lena. "But it was more like my own kind of experimental test. So come on…what'd you learn?"

Revan thought for a moment. "Well," he began. "I've learned not to underestimate you." Lena smiled, hinting him to go on. "Or myself for that matter. It's nice to know that there was something new you had to offer, though it doesn't seem like you've even introduced it yet, so I'll hold that thought." Lena chuckled again, but Revan continued. "I still have a hard time believing that I did the stuff you had me do the night before. Every morning I wake up, sore to the skin. Sometimes I feel like I might just drop dead of exhaustion at any second. But you seem to know me quite well, and you pushed me past any and all limitations I thought I had, and then some." Revan paused for a moment. "I guess I just feel like a better man for it."

"Also good to hear," said Lena. "Don't feel bad about limitations. I know you, I've seen you in action; believe me, when you set your mind to something, limitations won't hold you back. But hey don't listen to me. Just look at yourself! Your physical conditioning is top notch, you're quick, nimble, strong, agile; when it comes to capability, you haven't changed."

"Coming from you, this sounds like a complement," said Revan.

"It really is," she said. "But you can hardly blame me, considering my respect for you. I learned your skills and prowess far outmatch that of any normal Jedi I have ever known. As we have fought, I purposely did different things in order to test how effective you are with each of your forms and skills. It is good that you do not seem to rely on any single form or talent individually, but when you face the True Sith in combat, as well as their highly skilled assassins, you will need an increase in your training. In respect to your lightsaber skills your performance in Shi-Cho, Makashi, Soresu, Ataru, Djem-So, Juyo, and Jar-Kai were outstanding in our battles. You are able to easily switch between stances and styles quickly, which is good.

"It's obvious you have a clear mastery of the standard forms and attacks, as well as your physical and Force capabilities. But in combat with a True Sith, they would see through these things to your one weakness, and simply overpower you. Make no mistake; there is nothing wrong with what you have already accomplished; I just know that the time has come for you to learn how to step it up another notch. You will need to let go of these Jedi constraints you have placed upon yourself."

"Jedi constraints?" asked Revan in a weary tone. "Is _that _the lesson?"

Lena pondered to herself for a moment. "_How to phrase this correctly…_" she thought. With hardly a plan for what she was going to say, she spoke again. "It's in the way you fight and go about things. Your conscious and subconscious activities, if you will. You fight very well, and you're even better now than you were back when I knew you during the war."

"But…" said Revan, knowing she was going to say that.

"Well…you lack a certain vigor. You need to let your emotions off the leash."

Revan had a strong feeling that she was going to say that. He quickly replied. "If you're expecting me to give into anger, you're wasting your time. I do that…I become just as bad as Malak."

Lena chuckled. "How Jedi-like of you," she said with another air of a laugh. "I say something simple that just so happens to contradict a Jedi teaching, and you just _fly _off the handle, accusing _me_ of trying to send you down the dark path. But that's _not_ the point, and that's _not_ what I asked, is it?"

"Then what's your point?" asked Revan. "The dark side of the Force isn't more powerful; only structured to appear to be more powerful. Malak and I were about evenly matched, and I didn't need to use the dark side to defeat him."

Lena broke into another laughter. "I'm sorry," she said. "Did you just say that you and Malak were about evenly matched! _Hahahahahaha!_ That's hilarious!" Revan continued staring at Lena as she was laughing, but he didn't say any more. "What hilarious bull shit," Lena said in another serious voice, immediately quashing the laughter. "You and Malak weren't evenly matched at all. A True Sith could kill him with a fingernail. Modesty is only admirable until it surpasses the truth, Revan."

"Fine," Revan admitted. "Alright I was better than Malak. That doesn't prove your point."

"But you're mistaken as to what my point is," said Lena. "The Jedi teach how to fight and overwhelm your opponent with a calm and 'peaceful' center. The Sith teach how to fight and overwhelm your opponent with an angry and hateful center. There's a middle ground. It's called passion."

"Jedi don't use passion," retorted Revan. "It's about being serene."

"Blah, blah, blah, Jedi indoctrination," said Lena. "You'll figure out the problem with that one on your own. The problem is, Jedi fool themselves. What's the use of fighting if there's nothing to fight for? Where do you think your energies really come from? They come from the heart and soul. They come from your passion."

"Bull shit," said Revan. "My energy comes from the light side of the Force. If the point of this test was to see how much a Jedi can accomplish while expecting them to fail, then I obviously proved you wrong."

"The point was to see what _you_ could do," said Lena. "Of course you didn't need to use your passions. You ran up mountains and fought doppelgangers. Who needs passion to do that kind of meaningless work? I'm talking about fighting a real threat…like the Mandalorians or the True Sith." Revan gave Lena another funny look, but Lena continued. "Don't you dare tell me that there weren't ever moments in your journey when passion…when your emotions were of use to you. Anger is not the only emotion out there. Emotion _is_ where your energies come from. They give you focus…they sharpen your senses, and when you find the drive to do the things that only you can do.

"That might be true…" said Revan in a hesitant tone. "But even if they did, I never wanted them to. They go against the most basic of my teachings, and frankly I don't need them."

"See that's the problem," said Lena. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming _you_ for this. Jedi do not realize the benefits of human emotion. They have it, and they use it, but they don't realize it. And when someone accuses them of being emotional, they ardently go on the defensive and go: 'I would never turn to the dark side!'

"The thing is, instead of teaching you to have less emotion than a droid like HK-47, they ought to teach you to _control_ your emotions _while_ using them. Does that make sense?"

"It's based on a lot of assumptions," said Revan. "I can tell you that there are plenty of Jedi who _do_ have less emotion than HK. It makes them rather boring, but you might be wrong in some of your assumptions."

"Objection: Master, please! Restrain yourself from comparing me to those self-righteous Jedi meatbags!"

"They're hiding it," said Lena, ignoring the remark. "Remember, you're also talking to an ex-Jedi Knight. Believe me…they're hiding it."

"Yeah well, I don't," said Revan.

Lena nodded. "Fair enough," she said. "No lightsabers…attack."

Revan took his lightsabers and placed them on a table. Then he took a fighting stance at Lena, as she did the same. Lena had no doppelganger this time. It was just the two of them.

Revan, with his hands up, came at Lena with a low kick to her shin. Lena switched her stance as he was about to hit her, causing him to miss and overreach. Revan followed through with a fast set of blows aimed at Lena's body. Lena blocked the first two, and then caught his right arm, circling around behind him and putting him in a hold. Revan stomped her foot and flipped her straight over his shoulder, but Lena landed on her feet. Revan set a knee straight for her back, but Lena intercepted it with her arm and hit Revan with an uppercut to the stomach. As she attempted to hit him again, Revan caught her arm and attempted to twist it into an arm bar. Lena used the force of Revan's movement to guide her arm up to Revan's neck and put him into a headlock. Revan escaped out of it just before Lena could tighten her grip, but before he could do anything else, Lena had stopped his next attack and had pinned his arms from behind.

"_You want to win!_" Lena yelled in Revan's ear. "_Use your emotions! Get mean! Fight for something!_"

"_Fat chance!_" yelled Revan as he head-butted her off and delivered a back kick to her chest. Lena backed up just enough for the kick to miss her, but as Revan turned around Lena dealt him a front kick to his stomach, causing him to collapse.

"So you refuse to listen," said Lena. "You refuse to acknowledge that there is power behind emotion?"

"Yeah," said Revan coldly. "You want to change my mind? _Prove it!_"

"Oh yeah?" retorted Lena. "And what if I told you that you just did?"

"Don't try it Lena," said Revan with a bit of panting. "I know what you're going to say. I yelled during the fight…it was of frustration. That's not the same as anger!"

"Call it whatever you want," said Lena. "I'm just trying to show you how powerful emotions can be."

"Emotions in combat are _pointless!_" said Revan returning to his feet. "Our ability to not succumb to that is what makes us different, and _better_ than the Sith!"

"Jedi are no better!" yelled Lena. "The Jedi did not defeat Malak. _You did!_"

"_BECAUSE I'M A JEDI!_" screamed Revan.

"Then attack me again, Jedi!" said Lena. "If you think my advice is pointless, then beat me, _NOW!_"

Lena Force pushed Revan to the ground. He began to return to his feet again, but Lena pressed her foot against his chest. In a swift motion, Revan swept her foot of his chest with his right arm, and the force of the sweep knocked her down. Revan kicked himself up to his feet, but Lena had done so too at the same time. Revan went at Lena again, but she used the Force and put his body in stasis. Revan was now angrily fuming, for Lena had rendered his upper and lower body petrified, but she purposefully left his head mobile. Revan could turn his head, blink his eyes, breathe normally, and speak; he just couldn't move the rest.

"_Damn it!_" Revan thought to himself. He struggled and seized, trying to break free but Lena's hold on him was too strong. "_She has been toying with me this whole time…_" This thought made him even angrier, and he knew he couldn't let Lena be right. "What are you trying to do Lena? Anger is nothing but an illusion of power! I won't go down that road again! Emotion has never helped me! _EVER!_"

"_NOT EVEN ONCE!_" yelled Lena. "You mean to tell me that there was not even a _single_ occasion where emotion was not of use?" She grabbed him by the lapel and pulled him forward until he was no more than three inches from her face. "Look at me, Revan! _LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND TELL ME YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT!_" She threw him back down to the ground and let go of the stasis.

Revan shrunk at these words. Images began flashing through his mind; recent events that he still remembered. The first flash was aboard the _Endar Spire_. He remembered the rush of adrenaline, fueled by fear, his will to live, and his anger at the Sith for killing Trask Ulgo. In that battle, Revan reprogrammed a damaged combat droid to assist him against a large squad of Sith troopers in the conference room of the ship; but it was hardly worth it. Then Revan, out of his sheer will to survive and get off the ship before the Sith blew it into dust got in front of it and cut down all of them before the droid could even take a shot. Once he was past the room, he met Carth at the escape pod launch bay, and escaped. Now he realized that it was due to these very emotions that enabled him to survive and get off the ship moments before it blew.

The second flash was on Taris; during the swoop race that he had to win in order to rescue Bastila from the Black Vulkar gang. Revan remembered how the thrill of the highly fast-paced and intense race gave him the drive to win. It was almost as if he didn't need the prototype accelerator.

One of the worst events of his life was on the _Leviathan_. Admiral Saul Karath had Revan, Bastila, and Carth viciously and barbarically tortured, but Revan steeled himself and did not give up. When the Admiral kept asking Revan questions about their mission, Revan lied, but the Admiral did not buy any of it, so he specifically had Bastila tortured the most, in an effort to make Revan break. Yet his courage, and his will to resist and not give in, allowed him to endure long enough for Mission Vao to break them out.

On Korriban, when the final Star Map was found, Revan's determination to find the Star Forge and his love for Bastila, caused him to get through the academy in the midst of the chaos completely unscathed. When he met Bastila again on Rakata Prime, his love for her not only enabled him to resist the temptation to the dark side, but it drove him to never give up on her.

On the Star Forge itself, Revan's passions were not his undoing, but his greatest asset. The strength that he found inside himself that was fueled by his passion and his desire to find Bastila again and kill Malak caused him to endure the hell he went through. Malak threw an army at him; hundreds of droids, soldiers, and dark Jedi apprentices. The other Jedi on the station were like sheep to the slaughter, and all they had managed to do was hold the docking bay. His companions did what they could, but Revan had been the sharpest part of the spear that simply kept moving forward, never stopping, and never faltering. And when he finally found Bastila in her chamber, it was his love for her that enabled him to defeat her, and bring her back from the dark side.

Finally, during his last and most desperate battle against Darth Malak himself; when he felt despair; at his darkest moment, when all seemed lost, he remembered his friends. He remembered his desire to protect the people he loved, and end the evil he had a hand in creating so long ago. This irrefutable passion; this one spark had given him the power to fight back, and defeat his old apprentice.

At long last, Revan realized how wrong he was. He realized how his emotions had been his greatest asset throughout the entire Star Forge mission. Fear, enthrallment, survival, anger, passion, courage, intention, remorse, empathy, and most of all love; these were a few of the many emotions he had throughout the journey, and he had only understood now that they were of help; not a hindrance to his cause. Lena was right, and even that thought alone was troubling because it went against the Jedi Code. Revan looked up to see Lena still standing over him, and he slowly got back up to his feet.

"I guess," he began. "I really _do_ have a lot to learn." Revan wanted to feel ignorant and stupid for not realizing something that was almost obvious, but Lena seemed to understand.

She turned and walked several paces away. "Now you realize the role emotions have played in your past. Now you realize how one of the greatest failures of the Jedi teachings lies in the very first tract of the Jedi Code: _There is no emotion; there is peace._

"That tract is their greatest weakness. Now you must learn how to apply this consciously instead of just letting your emotions run underneath the surface."

Revan was staring down at his feet, still a little disoriented as to the revelation. "I hate this kind of shit," he said. "Revelations…surprises…they always rub me the wrong way. But yeah…if that was the lesson, I suppose I get it now."

"It's _part _of the lesson," said Lena. "There will be more on the way. I never said this would be easy. We've barely begun. Comparatively, this was easy."

"_Easy…?_" said Revan with half a gasp. "Yeah, my whole way of seeing things gets turned on its head, like it was just another day."

Though he didn't notice, Lena was pondering what to say. The training under her had made him see a fairly cold and uncaring side of her, but this was far from the truth. "_Maybe I hit him with a little too much of a bombshell…_" she thought. "_Is this the best way to introduce it? Maybe…no, it has to be. Emotions are always the first and hardest step…_"

Lena continued thinking and considering her options on what to tell him.

"Revan, I want you to rest up for today. Think about this, but nothing else. Put your worries behind you and clear your mind. I'll need you to be as relaxed as you can be. You've been through hell, and you deserve an explanation, one that I will give tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," Revan said softly. "No problem."

"Just take it easy," said Lena. "After you understand everything, then you can tell me later on if my approach was the best. Either way, you'll know what to do when you eventually pass on what you know. Good night, my friend."

Lena turned around to walk up the ramp into the ship, leaving Revan to ponder alone this experience.

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

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_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	9. Chapter 8: The Way of the Force

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black****

* * *

Chapter 8  
**

**The Way of the Force

* * *

**

The Code of the Jedi

_There is no emotion; there is peace._

_There is no ignorance; there is knowledge._

_There is no passion; there is serenity._

_There is no chaos; there is harmony._

_There is no death; there is the Force.

* * *

_

The Code of the Sith

_Peace is a lie; there is only passion_

_Through passion, I gain strength._

_Through strength, I gain power._

_Through power, I gain victory._

_Through victory, my chains are broken._

_The Force shall free me.

* * *

_

"Sounds like you got beaten hard," said Bastila through her personal communicator from Coruscant in the Jedi Temple.

"Quite hard," said Revan, still on Katarr. "Then she proceeded to lecture me about how the Jedi are deeply flawed in their assessment of emotions. She says that emotions are powerful, and how it's better to use and know how to control them rather than suppress them. That was the lesson."

"Sounds like a darker version of Jolee," said Bastila. "How I miss that old man…"

"Tell me about it," Revan muttered.

Revan had not managed to talk to Bastila in quite some time. Lena had him working incredibly hard for these past six months, and during his relaxation time, he was often much too tired to speak. In the few times that they did, their conversations lasted for hours. In this case, it had been over two months since their last conversation. To comfort her, Revan had introduced Lena to Bastila over the visual holographic communication in the _Ebon Hawk_ during the last conversation, but most of their chats were merely audio, in order to keep their relationship a secret from the Jedi Order.

"I can't tell you how glad I am to hear your voice again," said Revan.

"Lena sounds a little sketchy," said Bastila, almost ignoring the comment. "She sounds like she's dangerously treading the line between dark and light. Something doesn't feel right about her."

"It's crossed my mind," said Revan. "I didn't sense any deception in her, though considering how tough she is, I don't even know if I could tell if she actually _was_ lying."

"Yet you're there," said Bastila. Revan sensed by something in her voice that she was deeply missing him, but he did not wish to jump the gun and comment on it. "What's the point of the training? Are you…learning anything? I mean…it just sounds like she put you through a ludicrous physical test for the sake of your…muscles." Revan couldn't see it, but Bastila was deeply blushing from this. She really was missing him.

"I learned a few things," said Revan, while trying to hide his laughter at Bastila's remark. "I'm not sure how much weight I'd put on these things. She said she'll explain everything today."

"I take it you're looking forward to it?"

"Definitely," said Revan. "After yesterday, I barely managed to sleep."

There was a sudden pause in their conversation, but Bastila broke the silence first in a hint of concern. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I will be," replied Revan. "I just hope it's worth it. Knowing her, her remarks today will baffle me just as much." Revan sighed. "Don't worry about me."

"I always worry," said Bastila. "Just…tread carefully. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't," said Revan. "But enough about me; how are _you_ doing?"

"Been well," said Bastila. "The Council usually leaves me alone, but since we killed Malak, they've been…just a little too strange for my liking. I'd never tell them that, but it's a gut feeling."

"Well you know what I'd have to say about it," said Revan. "I really can't stand them…except Vandar."

"I don't know," said Bastila. "It might just be me, but their behavior seems to have changed. I don't want to think too hard on it though."

"Who knows?" replied Revan. "I mean…do you know Master Kavar?"

"Yes I know him," said Bastila. "I haven't seen him in quite some time. Master Vash told me that he had left the Council."

"It's true," said Revan. "Vandar told me that even though they won't let it show, the Council has trouble dealing with itself with Kavar's absence. So if you're feeling a little detached from them, you're probably right."

"He had a talent for keeping everything together," said Bastila. "Or…so I heard."

"Trust your instincts Bastila," said Revan. "They've never failed you before, and I don't think they ever will. Got any younglings to teach yet?"

"Occasionally," said Bastila. "Juhani has taken on a lot more of that role. The kids _love_ her."

"It's the whiskers," said Revan, and he heard Bastila laugh.

"But I am concerned for the Order. We just…aren't rebuilding fast enough. I feel like I could be doing more, but we have barely the numbers to sustain ourselves. Malak did a lot more damage than we thought. And with the Council being so distant, that just makes _my_ life more difficult. I feel a little useless."

"They need you more than you think," said Revan. "Think about how much sweat and blood Malak poured over you. But you aren't just the best for Battle Meditation. They'll need your strength and resilience." Bastila's face became flushed again, and she was somewhat happy that Revan couldn't see it. "By the way, how'd Carth's campaign on Yavin go?"

"Cold case," said Bastila. "They found nothing. If the Sith _were_ there, then they must have figured out we were coming after them. Maybe our intel was bad."

"That…doesn't usually happen," said Revan. "But, with Malak gone, shouldn't the Sith be too busy killing each other?"

"One would think so…"

"They've got a new leader," said Revan. "That's the only explanation. Someone took Malak's place and got them organized enough to elude the Republic." Suddenly, Revan heard Bastila gasp softly, like she was trying to hide it. "Something wrong?"

"I've got to go," said Bastila.

"Go," said Revan in a compassionate voice, but Bastila hadn't hung up yet. "Hey," he followed up. "I love you. Don't forget that."

"I won't," said Bastila hastily. "And…ditto." With that, Bastila cut off the transmission and their conversation was over.

Revan clasped his hands together and sunk his head. No tears came from his eyes, for it was not sorrow that he was feeling. He merely felt lost in the dark. It wasn't just Lena's ambiguity as an instructor and the craving eagerness to find out what the deep secret she was going to reveal to him was. Although this bothered Revan greatly, he knew that he would be rid of this soon enough. No, it was simply the thought of not being around Bastila anymore, and it ate away at him. Lena's hardcore physical training had done well in keeping Revan's mind preoccupied, and it was of great help in making him feel better, but after the beating he took from her last night and the abrupt ending of this long awaited conversation with Bastila, Revan felt rather empty inside.

It was a strange feeling for him. When Revan was with Bastila, he felt like more than a man. He felt like he could do anything. Revan was no ordinary Jedi, but when he was around Bastila, he felt like even more than that. It was his love for her that drove him to do the heroic deeds he had recently accomplished and more. What made his euphoric state even more enjoyable was his knowing that Bastila loved him just the same. And now that she was a hundred parsecs away, Revan had felt like a large piece of him was missing.

Revan thought back to Carth's words on the _Ebon Hawk_, the day after Malak's death. _"It almost seems that a lucky star is following you…"_ That lucky star was love…and Bastila was the light that made it shine. Without her, it was like his whole environment around him grew dim.

Determined to take his mind off of this, Revan began doing an exercise routine, since it was now clear that sleep was out of the question. The sun had risen over Katarr once again, but knowing Lena, it would be a while before she would actually wake up.

Hours passed, but at noontime, Lena summoned Revan into the cargo hold. Revan went immediately.

The room was still dark, but on the floor was a rug with mini-benches on both sides. On the rug was a tea kettle and two small cups on both sides. Around the rugs were a set of four lit candles that brought enough light to make the room dim. Lena sat on one of the benches. T3-M4 was stationed near the entrance of the cargo hold.

Revan walked over and sat on the other bench, facing Lena, just noticing the lazy yawn she made as he took his seat. Lena took the kettle and poured some tea for herself and then for Revan.

"T3?" said Lena. "Like we discussed."

The droid beeped happily and out of its audio recorder came a soft and soothing piece of music from a woodwind flute-like instrument.

"Quite the ceremony you have going here," said Revan.

Lena smiled and raised her cup. Revan raised it to the height, matching hers. Lena drank first, and then Revan followed. Lena drained the tea in one shot. Revan took a small sip and set it down, intending to pick it up later. It was great tea, about exactly what he needed at this time. Lena had certainly done some preparations.

"Well Revan," she said finally. "I told you yesterday that I would explain everything tomorrow." She gave another lazy yawn and then shrugged it off. "And since today is yesterday's tomorrow, I guess it's time."

"Yeah…" replied Revan, still trying to get used to the setting.

"Today, I am going to tell you the truth as _I_ know it." Lena took a breath. "_Your_ own truth may be different, but that's something you'll find out in your own time. All I want is for you to take what I have taught you, and use it well."

Revan bowed his head.

"You should know that the words I am prepared to speak would be proclaimed heresy by the Jedi and the Sith. But hopefully, when we're done here, such mundane titles will mean little to you." Lena played with the smoke coming from the candle with her hand a little bit.

"I've come to expect that from you," said Revan with a smirk.

Lena returned the smoke. "To be as blunt as I can," she began. "Everything you know of the Force…is wrong."

Revan wanted to jump back in his seat all surprised like he felt that he should, but something was holding him back. He wanted to hear Lena out a little more before persisting with the questions.

"The Force," continued Lena. "Is not just some underlying all-powerful current that shapes the universe and controls the way we all breathe in its own way like the Jedi believe. Nor is it the raw beastly primal will of the Universe that the Sith believe drives us to thrive and survive through our independence and at all expenses."

Revan's brow was more furrowed than he had ever made it before. Her words were soft, but they hit him like a megaphone to his eardrum. He scratched his head. "That's…interesting; can't say I expected _that_."

"Make no mistake," said Lena. "I'm not trying to suggest that there is no such thing as the Force…nor do I intend to undermine the inalienable power of it. What it is, is a highly mysterious entity of energy with a purpose."

"If I may," said Revan, taking another sip of his tea. "How do you know this? Why do you think you're the only one to see things this way? What's the purpose? And if the Jedi and Sith are both wrong, how does the Force _really_ work?"

Lena smiled again. "What we see depends on what we look for…what we choose to see. I don't know if anyone else knows what I know; I'm not pretentious enough to think that I'm the only one to figure this out. But any of those who know are few and far between. You are not likely to find them anywhere near the Jedi or the Sith."

"Why not?"

"Because the two groups would brand them as heretics; the Jedi would make a public example out of them by calling them fallen creatures to the dark side, and the Sith would try to kill them, believing them to be weak in this line of thought. Both sides would refuse to listen and they would never change their core beliefs. Anyone who attempts to would be evil in their eyes."

"I see," said Revan. "Well I guess now I know you _definitely_ aren't a Sith."

"Thanks to you," said Lena with another smile. "But going to my point…" Lena took another breath. "The Force is a universal embodiment of the collective thoughts, emotions, and energies of us…as well as those who have come before us; all of this merged together into a single grand will."

"That does make it a kind of energy field in a way," said Revan wisely.

"Yes," said Lena. "But not as the Jedi understand it. Jedi need to understand that the Force is an energy field _created _by all living things…not an energy field that came before us. This is why the Force resonates and flows through living beings. It is why the kingdom of the Force comes from within you. It is why the Force responds to our emotions. It is all around us, surrounding us, flowing through us, and one with us, and connecting all life."

"Alright stop for a second," said Revan, with another sip of his tea. "So your little stunt yesterday in proving to me how powerful my emotions are…it was just a stepping stone to understanding the _true_ way of the Force? You were planning to tell me how flawed both the Jedi and Sith are?"

"Exactly," said Lena. "You must understand…I really didn't know how to tell you this. I learned during our training that your mind cannot accept anything at face value. I had to show you something first, to get you to open your mind for a lesson such as this."

"Lena, you could have given me that lesson on day one," said Revan. "Why did it take six months?"

"I needed to see what you could do, and I needed to methodically figure out how I was going to reveal this to you. Six months ago, I hadn't seen you since the end of the war. The last time I saw you, you were a lot different. All this took me a lot by surprise."

"Fair enough," said Revan.

"No more interruption," said Lena. "You'll have more questions, and I'll answer them after I explain the main point."

Revan nodded.

"The Force is a matrix of these thoughts and feelings in all forms of life that are and were. It controls the galaxy by the power of its will. You've no doubt heard the Jed mention the 'will' of the Force. That 'will' is transmitted through our midichlorians. How we respond to it shapes our destiny. But…what the Jedi and Sith do _not_ understand, is that they both believe that they command the Force. The reality is the opposite. The Force commands _them_. The Force uses them, and they obey it without even fully realizing, because they believe that what is good for the Force is good for them. 'The will of the Force is on our side' is what they will tell you, but that's not the case. The endless conflict between the Jedi and Sith is in part due to the nature of living beings; the lust for war that everyone feels inside of them, but it runs much deeper than that. It runs much deeper than any and every war we have ever seen. You and I are students of history. So many wars have been fought, since the beginning of time; no matter how much we've all tried to prevent them, they happen. The truth is, these wars are both a mask, and a product of another conflict…one within the Force itself.

"It is a conflict of balance," continued Lena. "The Force is _always_ trying to attain balance. It tries to create and maintain equilibrium between its light and dark sides. However, because the Force us a universal extension of all living beings, it is subject to the same flaws that _we_ are subject to. Think about it; countless lives are lost in this war between light and dark. But at the end of the day, nobody seems to care how many people were taken, swallowed up by a war that has _no_ beginning and _no_ end. The _true_ conflict of the Force lies within the hearts and souls of every living being. In such desperation, the Force must keep everyone on the inside. It must keep everyone blind to what it really is. Any who can break free of it…those who can rise above the will of the Force can see it for what it truly is. It is a broken machine. The Force is a system that is broken, _knows_ that it's broken, but will continue trying to sustain itself regardless of that fact. The Sith and the Jedi will always be bound to the will of the Force, doomed to serve in its never-ending war. All beings in this galaxy are…unless they break free. That is the way of things. _That_…is the way of the Force."

Revan had finished his tea, and had he not drank it slowly, he probably would have spat it out. Once again, he felt like he was being pounded in the face with a shovel. It was like, for the second time, Lena was rotating his entire view of things. All he could think was: "_What the fuck?_"

"You're confused, no doubt," said Lena. He couldn't tell, but Lena was begging a quick reply.

"Not going to lie," said Revan. "That's hard to believe. It's one thing to prove that a man's emotions make him stronger. It's another thing to prove…this."

"As I said, I don't expect you to take this at full face value," said Lena. "I owed you an explanation, and I've just given it. Some would not wish to see the truth, regardless of their ability to find it."

"Why not?"

"Ignorance is bliss," said Lena flatly. "Right? I mean, what I told you…isn't exactly a bedtime story. Some would rather be ignorant and happy than saddled with the burden of knowing the way things _really _are."

"One question," said Revan. Lena nodded. "You said…something earlier about breaking free? Rising above the will of the Force, and how that's the only way to see it for what it is?"

"That's what happened on Shikara," said Lena. "You could call it an accidental discovery, but the reason the Force came back to me was because I _made_ it come back. I grew it back, and I grew stronger, and if not for that, I'd still be in there. It's something I hope you will do as well…and under less stressful circumstances."

"But there's got to be something one can do, to stop the conflict. Right?"

Lena shook her head. "Nothing we can do can ever end the battle of the Force. What we _can_ do is to shape it in our own way. All we can really do is to decide how to make the best of the time we have." Lena smiled again. "Though if anyone _was_ to do the impossible, it would be you."

"Like I can end a never-ending war the Force wages in search of balance," said Revan. "I'm not a miracle worker Lena."

"You must look at the Force as life," she replied. "Remember how I made you make better sense of that dream? What'd I say? What was the purpose of that dream?"

"You said it was the 'living Force' inside me that was sending a message," replied Revan as the thought back to that old conversation.

"_Living…_" said Lena with a grin. "It was about living in the moment. Being mindful of both the future as well as the now; to show you that the choice is yours and only yours, but you had better decide quickly."

"Okay…"

"Life is constantly shifting," said Lena. "Life transitions, life is always adapting to the environment, and the environment is always adapting to itself, as does the Force. What we do in life affects the balance of the Force. It is an extension of all of us, but the collaborative will acts as an external power, manipulating things as it sees fit."

"Well that's not very consistent," said Revan. "I mean…all life touches the Force…and yet the Force touches all life?"

"That's just it," said Lena. "It's not. Nothing is really all that consistent when you get down to it." She paused for a moment, and then continued. "In a strange way, the Force is like an ordinary person with all the power of a god, and along with that, all the faults and problems that come with being a person."

Revan sighed. "Fascinating…scintillating, and horrifying at the same time."

"But hey," said Lena. "Don't just take my truth as your own. Everyone is different; so too must their view of things be. I want you to think really hard and decipher this for yourself. Just as you've done before, find a calm spot, and contemplate for a while. I'll be here if you need me."

"Definitely," said Revan, standing up. "Thanks Lena…this time I really mean it."

Lena smiled. "Of course," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to sleep." As Revan left the _Ebon Hawk_, Lena closed her eyes and blew out the candles.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Bastila was walking back to her quarters after substituting a class for the group of younglings Dorak was teaching. She was tired and utterly drained. The young padawans were such a rowdy and immature bunch, that they nearly drove her to the point of insanity. The simple exercise of the Form I – Shii-Cho was turned into a nightmare. They hardly paid any attention to her, and she had to shut them up at least seven times. As she rounded the corner, she saw Master Lonna Vash approaching her.

"Bastila!" said Vash. "You missed the briefing this morning. What happened?"

"Sorry Master Vash," said Bastila while bowing. "I must have lost track of time."

"Doing what, may I ask?" Bastila hesitated for a moment.

"I was…practicing my battle meditation skills."

Bastila had found keeping her love affair with Revan a secret moderately easy, only because the prohibition of love by the Jedi was so ingrained in the minds of every Jedi in training that the Masters would never suspect it, unless she was actually seen kissing or holding hands with him. The truth of the matter was, Bastila was talking to Revan at the time and she was supposed to be in the briefing. When she was interrupted and had to cut the conversation short, it was Belaya who had come to fill her in.

"Well I'm glad you are keeping your skills in tune," said Vash. "But you need to be more mindful of time."

"Yes, ma'am," said Bastila. "Belaya told what happened. She said the fleet sent to Raxus Prime and the surrounding systems came up with nothing." She sighed deeply.

"Something wrong?" said Vash sympathetically.

"No, no, I'm okay," lied Bastila, but Vash didn't buy it.

"Bastila…" she said. "I was only your teacher for a short time, but don't forget that you can confide and put your trust in me. I'm not Master Vrook," she said with a grin, and Bastila chuckled. "I can tell something is troubling you."

"Yes you're right," said Bastila. "It's just…something is wrong here. A few days after Malak's death, we had very strong intelligence that suggested the Sith gathered on Yavin. We got there…and they weren't there. Our intelligence is getting weaker and weaker, and everywhere we've looked. Yavin…Sullust…Yaga Minor…and now Raxus, we have turned up empty handed. How could the Sith just disappear?"

Lonna Vash chuckled slightly to these questions, but her expression seemed to empathize and agree with Bastila. "I wish you were at the briefing. You could have brought it up. The room could not have been duller. But you're right. It is a mystery, but then again, the dark side is sometimes difficult to see."

"Sorry Master Vash," said Bastila. "I'm venting a bit, and it's not fair for you to hear it. It's just…the Sith are up to something. I just know it."

"The Sith are _always_ up to something," said Vash with a grin. "Tell you what; I'll raise this up as a subject of discussion with the rest of the council. I know you're exasperated right now, and I didn't want to interrupt you during your class."

"It probably would have helped if you did," said Bastila with a smirk, and Vash giggled.

"You do what you can to clear your mind, and we'll talk later. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am," said Bastila as she bowed. As they walked past each other, Lonna Vash gave her a little pat on the shoulder with a smile.

As Bastila entered her quarters to meditate, her thoughts drifted back to her youth in the Order. Lonna Vash was her last master before she became a Jedi Knight. Though their time was short as master and apprentice, the two had grown to become good friends. She was one of the few members of the Jedi Council that Bastila actually trusted. But no matter what, she was still utterly determined to keep her love for Revan a secret from the Order, as well as the others who traveled on the _Ebon Hawk_ during the quest for the Star Forge.

As she changed into her nightgown and stretched out on the bed, her thoughts ceased to dwell on her youth and shifted to Revan.

"_I sure hope he's doing alright…_"

* * *

_Back on Katarr..._

"_I knew this was coming…somehow I knew…all of it. I guess I just wasn't ready…_"

The thick cumulus clouds began to darken the sky over the world of Katarr. Revan had found a place of solitude on top of a mountain that they had landed near. He was slowly walking up the path to the peak, but his head was spinning, unable to take rest from Lena's words and discoveries. As he walked, his thoughts became more turbulent, and a vision of his victory over Darth Malak began to surface.

"_Still…still spouting the so called wisdom of the Jedi I see. Perhaps there is more truth to their words than I have realized. Perhaps…" Malak coughed again. "Perhaps the light side truly is more powerful. But there is more to this than meets the eye. No ordinary Jedi could have defeated me in combat Revan. Only you could have." Malak coughed up his own blood again as he looked up at Revan. "I feared this…feared it since the moment I learned from Calo that you were alive. You…you are special Revan."_

Revan continued walking up the path and heard a light roar of thunder far off in the distance. The air was moist, but the storm hadn't arrived just yet.

"_Am I really special?_" thought Revan. "_How many people have realized these things? All these codes and rules are…they're all wrong. They speak some truth but neither of them have all the answers. I didn't ask for this; I didn't ask to be a Jedi, to live a life in service to others and the galaxy. What am I really? I'm not a Sith; I know that much. Apparently I'm not really a Jedi anymore either. So what am I?_" he asked himself. "_WHAT AM I?_"

These questions and pondering statements continued to fill Revan's head, and he found himself walking in circles. By this time, he had finally reached the top of the mountain. Another vision of Darth Malak came to him; the conversation they had before the final battle.

"_The darkness and the light wage a constant war within you. The balance is tipped one way now, but it can easily be tipped back." _The voice of Revan's former apprentice filled his mind again._ "Savior, conqueror, hero, villain. You are all these things, Revan, and yet you are nothing. In the end you belong to neither the light nor the darkness. You will forever stand alone."_

Revan fell to his knees and sat in seiza, as a bright flash of lightning raced across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. The rain began to fall, and within seconds it was a hard downpour. The rain fell relentlessly, making puddles of mud and battering the sides of the rocks, as the lightning lit up the trees around him. Before long, Revan was soaked; his hair and his clothes drenched with water, but this was exactly what Revan needed. His mood matched the weather perfectly. He was sad, confused, downtrodden, and partially angry at himself.

Lena's words were stuck in his head, but were they really true? It was abundantly clear to him that the Jedi and Sith Order had their flaws, but the idea that they ran so incredibly deep to the point of ignorance of the true nature of the Force was insane! To him, she had basically just called him, Bastila, Juhani, Master Vandar, and every Jedi and Sith warrior a mindless tool of the Force.

"_But they're not!_" thought Revan. "_If anything, the will of the Force is inherently good, but maybe it's simply too broken to fix itself and the universe with it. I hope she is not foolish enough to underestimate the abilities of my friends…but then again, her pessimism runs really deep._"

Since her lesson on emotion, Revan had suspected Lena of trying to persuade him to leave the Jedi Order, but this was completely different.

"_What the hell am I supposed to do with this?_" thought Revan. "_Am I supposed to do what Lena did? Break free of the will? Become as powerful as her if not more? Become greater than any Jedi or Sith ever could be? See the Force for what it truly is? What difference would it make if I went up against the True Sith as I am now, verses some kind of enlightened being who is no longer a subject to the Force's will?_"

Revan then flashed back to his recent training with Lena. She had pushed him to his limits and beyond, yet no matter what he did, Lena could do all of it in half the time, and with at least five times the caliber. Then there was the trick with the doppelgangers. No matter how good Revan got at fighting and defeating them, he never understood how she was able to make them, let alone make more than one. Lena had made him do the most unorthodox and most sadistically creative exercises he had ever experienced, but not once had she ever berated him or disrespected him.

The most logical explanation would be that she never forgot who Revan was, and the fact that she once served him loyally and faithfully. There was no way Lena was hoping Revan would return fully to his old self, for he was much stronger now. Even though she instructed him, her level of respect was on par with the respect she had when he was her leader. Perhaps there was something good Lena wanted to unlock in Revan's old personality.

"_Of course!_" thought Revan with a hint of excitement. "_She wants me to break free so that I can become even more powerful than her! She wants to make me the leader again, and she wants to turn me into a weapon against the True Sith. She just wants me to be me!_"

Suddenly Lena's motives became so much clearer. Lena knew that Revan was a problem solver, a warrior, and a natural leader at heart, and she knew that he would never let the True Sith take over the galaxy. She just wanted him to make his own decisions, free of any and all restraints, but she knew that he had attachments and caring for those he was close to: Bastila, Carth, Canderous, Mission, and so many others.

"_She probably thinks that if she can go from being a fairly exceptional Jedi Guardian to someone who can probably kill Malak simply by staring at him…that I could turn into some kind of Force god!_"

As the rain continued to batter his clothing and tickle his face, Revan felt relieved, like he just solved a giant mystery for he had finally realized his teacher's motives, and they humored him. At long last, Revan's doubts of Lena were gone completely. Even without the memories to confirm she wasn't making it all up, Revan knew in his heart that she was right, and now he believed her…every word from her.

"_The Force is my enemy right now…_" thought Revan. "_And I must master it…and turn its will against the True Sith._"

But how could he do it? Lena had somehow figured all this out trapped in a dungeon with her Force powers sedated by drugs. Did this mean that he needed to cut himself off from the Force in order to better understand it and get it back tenfold?

"_No,_" thought Revan. "_That can't be it. Or can it?_" He contemplated this possibility for a moment. "_But Lena wasn't cut off from the Force. Her abilities were merely…trapped; the activity of her midichlorians slowed. That's not the same as losing one's connection._" Revan continued to think on this for a while, but that left him with nothing.

Revan mentally circled back to one of the previous questions he had asked himself. He began to question the truth of the two codes. It was clear that the Jedi Code was flawed, and obviously clear that the Sith are flawed too, but it almost seemed like the Sith and the Jedi were so opposite each other, that they were ironically similar.

Revan opened his eyes again, ignoring the noisy pitter patter of Katarr's precipitation. He gazed towards the bottom of the mountain and saw the _Ebon Hawk_ nestled at the bottom. It was a haven from the storm, but it could not be useful to quelling the turbulent hurricane within himself.

"_Perhaps if I examine these codes more carefully and figure out the flaws, I could separate the wheat from the chaff. There is clearly some truth in both of these codes…but in the grand scheme of the Force, they're both wrong._"

**There is no emotion; there is peace.**

"_Bullshit_!" yelled Revan to himself. "There is _always_ emotion! Inner peace cannot be attained without emotion, and there are emotions that come naturally with inner peace. The most powerful Jedi Knights were the most human, for they had attained and understood the true meaning of peace. And what is a human? Nothing more than an animal that blushes…or needs to. The Force within all of us is _strengthened_ by emotion!"

**Peace is a lie; there is only passion.**

"What are they thinking!" said Revan. "Clearly they aren't. These two aren't mutually exclusive! They _both _exist. The Sith merely consider peace a "lie" as a mark of opposition and separatism to the Jedi." Revan reflected back to the soothing words of wisdom from Jolee Bindo.

"_Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Passion can lead to rage and fear, and can be controlled. But passion is not the same as love. Controlling your passions while being in love; that's what they should teach you. But love itself will save, not condemn you."_

"_What I wouldn't give to rewind the clock back just a little bit to see him again,_" thought Revan as he smiled. "_How I miss that old coot_."

His turbulent mind shifted to the second tract of the Jedi Code.

**There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.**

"That can't be right," said Revan quietly. "Everyone is ignorant to some degree. Knowledge is not universal. The Jedi and Sith are equally and blissfully ignorant of the true nature of the Force. This must be where the two are so different, that they become similar."

**Through passion, I gain strength.**

"_Ha!_" laughed Revan. "The Sith truly show their ignorance by thinking that passion is the _only_ way to achieve strength. They don't even know what _true_ strength is. It takes more strength to resist and deny your primal instincts and lustful urges for power, than to simply give in to them."

**There is no passion; there is serenity.**

"_False,_" said Revan. "Serenity exists, but all it means is that _you_ do not let your passions control _you_. It doesn't mean to remove yourself from it. Passions, just like emotions make you strong. Those who fight with passion and for a cause are naturally stronger and more favored by the Force than those who do not. It's natural selection at its best.

"The third tract of the Jedi Code is a teaching of weakness, and here is where the Jedi show their ignorance once again. They use their passions relentlessly when fighting a Sith, and yet they do not realize it…just as I didn't until yesterday. They teach us to constantly _fear _the dark side; to keep it on the front of our minds so we are always mindful of it, and yet _fear_ is the first step on the dark path! They forbid possession and attachment, out of their fear of the dark side, and yet how does a Jedi identify himself? By their most valuable possession; _the lightsaber!_ Their attempt at self lobotomy is a flaw in so many ways, for one who has truly lived with the Force _cannot_ deny the existence of passion, and the strength that comes with it."

**Through strength, I gain power.**

"Raw strength is not the only way to attain power," said Revan. "The strong must always rule the Sith, but the Sith have little understanding of what true power is, and some of the most powerful Sith we have ever seen have attained that power not just by raw strength, but by manipulation and will power. Ideally, the Sith ought to re-define their view of strength and power and teach to emphasize _control_. Those who have the most control, attain the most power. That's a _fact _of the Sith."

**There is no chaos; there is harmony.**

"_What!_" cried Revan. "Out of chaos comes harmony, and out of harmony comes chaos. One cannot exist without the other. The Force keeps this to be a vicious circle and the stability of the universe is inherently destabilizing."

**Through power, I gain victory.**

"No, no, no!" Revan screamed. "The Sith are blithering _idiots_! Once again, power is not the _only_ means of achieving victory. "There are victories in peace, even if the Sith do not realize it. The triumph of pacifism can be a glorious victory…especially in the battle between light and dark. If their bodies were as narrow as their line of thinking, they'd be anorexic!"

**There is no death; there is the Force.**

"Well…" said Revan softly. "The Jedi aren't completely wrong on this one. Bodies die, but the soul lives on. When a soul becomes one with the Force, it maintains its identity and it strengthens all who are alive. Death is a natural part of life, and it is the one thing we all have in common; the one thing that makes us all the same. The soul lives on, but our bodies never return once we die. That is why life is sacred."

**Through victory, my chains are broken.**

**The Force shall free me.**

"And what the hell do the Sith know about breaking free?" he asked himself. "The Force can help you see what is hidden. It can light up the darkness or dim the brightest spark of light, but it will never…_ever_ set you free. _You_ must free _yourself!_"

The fact that Revan was essentially talking to himself had not bothered him in the slightest. He could not think this through quietly with the storm barraging his environment. As of this point, two more images flashed in front of Revan, side by side. On the right was Master Vrook, speaking the Jedi Code in full. On the left appeared Yuthura Ban, Revan's instructor at the Sith Academy on Korriban who helped him kill the headmaster of the academy Uthar Wynn, and then left during the midst of the chaos. Once Vrook was finished, Yuthura spoke the Sith Code in full.

Another crack of thunder vibrated the ground Revan stood upon, but Revan was steady. He began to speak out loud, and yet the words he was speaking echoed and screamed through his mind, louder than the roar of nature itself. He closed his eyes, and reached out with the Force, aware of all of his surroundings, from the beautiful landscape several kilometers away to the tiniest insects crawling on the ground, trying to find shelter from the storm.

"_If I want to be strong…strong enough to protect the galaxy…and the people I love, I have break free of both the Sith…AND the Jedi! The two codes are flawed…and too shortsighted to do what must be done. And to possess the willpower to break free of both is to break free of the will of the Force itself!_"

Revan gazed up toward the sky at the flashes of lightning that ran across the clouds. He closed his eyes and smiled, for the truth had come to him at last.

"_The light and the darkness are in a war that has no beginning and no end. There is nothing that can be done about it, for it is a conflict of the Force. No matter what any individual does, the war that has begun long before the beginning of time, will rage on forever…and the only way for it to stop, is for the Force itself to put an end to it. All I can do, is to make the best of the time I have…to better the age I live in; to live for the moment, to create and preserve peace for as long as I can. I will do my part in this war. _

"_I make a pledge…now and forever! I will fight to my last breath, to protect the innocent and make peace. The Sith will rue the day they threatened MY galaxy…and MY people. They drew first blood, but I will draw the last! I will leave my mark upon then. I will bestow a wound that shall last for an age, so that when I am dead and gone, there shall be peace._"

The rain suddenly stopped, but the lightning remained, constantly smashing against the surface of the mountain and the trees around it, and the claps of thunder seemed to follow within a split second of each stroke. Revan smiled.

"_The power of the light and the power of the darkness no longer blind me to the truth. And thus…right now…on the surface of Katarr…my chains are broken._"

Revan felt a rush. A massive surge of energy seemed to strike him in all places at once and a plane of blue light flashed before his shut eyes. He suddenly felt strong; stronger than ever before. As his body began to violently shake, he tilted his head upwards and opened his eyes. As Revan felt the power; the energy that he was attaining from breaking free, both of his eyes changed their color, from their normal cyan hue, to pure white. They shined brighter than the snowy plains of Hoth. The pupils of his eyes were no longer visible, and the veins around them began to bulge. He could feel the Force flowing through every atom of his body, faster and seemingly infinitely. It felt good. It felt great. His muscles became rich in energy, and he felt like he could do anything. Revan was a new and improved man, no longer a Jedi; no longer a Sith; no longer a servant to the Force's will. He was free; fully and utterly free; and the euphoria of it was unlike anything Revan had ever experienced before.

All of the energy that was flowing freely through his body began to slowly lift him several feet off the ground, as he let out a tremendous roar of triumph and content. As Revan hung, suspended in the air, free of the ways of the Jedi and Sith; free of the will of the Force, he spoke the following words, his voice echoing all around him.

"_First I must balance myself._

_Passion, yet peace,_

_Control is the key,_

_I make my choices free of influence,_

_And I rise above the will of others._

_Chaos and Order: One follows the other, and neither exists without the other._

_I seek balance in the galaxy to the best of my abilities._

_Through experience, I gain knowledge;_

_Through knowledge and insight, I gain wisdom;_

_With wisdom and insight in hand, I see the truth;_

_And the truth shall set me free!_

_Free from the bonds of light and dark!_

_I am now and forever…_

_A guardian…_

_A protector…_

_The Prodigal Knight._"

* * *

_We sincerely hope you have enjoyed Part I of "The Prodigal Knight". This philosophy is a product of Sarge42's brilliant mind, and we shall discuss it more as the story progresses. Any questions you have can be referred to either one of us and our door is always open.  
_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	10. Chapter 9: Strength of the Severed Arm

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black  
**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 9**

**Strength of the Severed Arm

* * *

**

It was near the boarder of the Unknown Regions, on the dark and dismal world of Malachor V, that lay the Sith: consisting mainly of the remnants of Darth Malak's forces that Kreia intercepted on Yavin IV, as well as fresh recruits and survivors of the war, coming from Manaan, Sullust, Yaga Minor, and Raxus Prime. All of them were intercepted by Sith Triumvirate before the Republic could catch them. The Triumvirate consisted of three main Sith Lords, the most notable being Darth Traya, but the other two had yet to reveal themselves. One was a product of pain...and the other was a product of hunger. These three were the new leaders of the Sith, and had been secretly amassing the remnants of their forces to Malachor V; the last place the Republic would look.

After publicly killing two students for their stupidity and lack of understanding of how the Sith become strong verses weak, Kreia took a deep breath and her eyes returned to their normal grey and blind state. As she sat back in the center circle, ready to resume her meditation, two Sith Lords entered the room. They came from different angles, but stopped in the same place, facing their master.

"Have we found him?" asked Kreia. Both remained silent, but the Sith Lord on the left merely nodded. "Good," she said. She looked to the one on the left. "Proceed with the assassination…and then you may begin the purge." The Sith Lord nodded and turned to leave, as Kreia looked at the other one. "I must leave for a time," she continued. "I'm going to Korriban to put an end to the civil war, reunify these fools in Malak's academy and see if I can put them to good use. You are to run the academy in my absence. Do enforce discipline until I return." The other Sith Lord made no response at all as Kreia walked past him.

* * *

_Back on the world of Katarr…_

Lena awoke to the noise of a sudden loud crash and combustion of rock and stone. Emerging from her tent in a swift motion and drawing her lightsaber, Lena was as adrenalized as ever, scanning the area and thinking that the site was under attack. As she looked around, she saw nothing but the same space and scenery that had been there the whole time; only Revan who stood upon the edge of the cliff and facing the horizon; his Heavy Exoskeleton Armor glowing and glistening in the sun as he stood tall and confident. The small bits and chunks of the two rocks that Revan had just collided with the Force littered the air before him and began to fall slowly as Revan extended both of his hands. To Lena's dismay, an aura of electricity spawned from Revan's fingertips as he let out a furious storm of lightning that hit every single piece of rock and disintegrated them. The lightning that didn't leave his fingers orbited Revan's body and spiked his hair but Revan was unharmed. Lena could see Revan's muscles glow and flex as the Force was harnessed through his body and through the armor. The energy around Revan died down as he began to relax and ease his breathing.

Since the stormy dusk of Revan's awakening, it had been four months. That same night, Revan returned to the ship while Lena was sleeping, packed his gear, and took refuge away from her in solitude. These past one hundred and twenty days were filled with Revan training himself, and getting used to his enhanced powers. Lena had not bothered to look for him, for she never suspected that he had broken free. Although she felt it through the Force that evening, she did not choose to act upon it, thinking that if it actually was Revan, he would return and tell her about it. Contrary to her theory, Revan did no such thing, until now.

"You channeled lightning through your armor," said Lena as Revan turned around to face her. "Since when…?" Revan made no reply, but Lena put the pieces together very quickly. "You did it…you broke free! I can feel it!" Revan laughed, but Lena went on. "And you seem fairly comfortable with this new energy. How long has it been?"

"A while," said Revan. "I figured that you wanted me to teach myself from now on, and so I practiced elsewhere for a little while, knowing that you'd come and find me if something urgent came up."

"How do you feel?"

"I feel good," said Revan with a grin of content. "I feel as if I've been healed, and yet there was no wound upon me before. It's power…true power in my hands. It's a bit odd really. Haven't felt like this in a pretty long time."

Lena looked a bit perplexed by his last statement but she chose to ignore it, for the aura she was receiving from Revan was relinquishing. "It seems to show," she said. "The overall glow of your face makes it pretty obvious. You look reborn."

"It was exhilarating," said Revan. "But how did _you_ feel when it happened to you?"

"It was…different really. In my case, I figured this out in a Sith dungeon. I call it an accident, because I had no idea that my thoughts at the time had that kind of purpose. I figured out the problems with the Jedi and Sith codes, the deep philosophies of the light and dark sides of the Force, and then the Force itself…all during meditation. You could say I had a moment of enlightenment, and then I broke out."

"Heh," said Revan, partially amused. "Well enlightened is definitely a good term in this case. Although, I haven't experienced anything completely new yet; I still don't know your doppelganger trick, and so far my abilities have simply increased in caliber and free of all limitations… as you just saw with the lightning through my armor."

"Well…" mused Lena. "Well this heavy exoskeleton isn't really _your_ armor. But this is wonderful to hear. My guess is that your power shall manifest and continue to enhance over the course of time. You'll figure out new abilities and fairly nuanced ways to use the Force. You'll probably be able to do better than just make a sub-standard copy of yourself." Lena grinned as she spoke.

"I just hope no one dares to try and make a copy of HK-47," chided Revan. "That would prove utterly disastrous." There was a slight pause in their conversation as they laughed it up, and Revan chose to add to it. "But great. It's always nice to discover new ways to slay Sith."

"Or help people…" said Lena. "I mean, be careful not to let this get to your head. You're still a good guy, right?"

"Just as always," said Revan, and again Lena did not understand his meaning. "By the way Lena," he continued. "Do you know why I didn't let you fight at the Jaga Cluster?"

Lena gave Revan a slightly awkward and then responded. "You told me that it was because you wanted me to prepare our forces to strike at Althir, and that Malak had finally finished the campaign on Taris and was eagerly ready for another campaign," she said. "Didn't I already tell you this?"

"I lied," said Revan. "I mean, I _did_ need someone to mobilize the men to attack Althir, but at the time, I decided to send Malak. I had a couple of reasons behind that."

"Uh huh," said Lena who was now looking very suspiciously at Revan. "Care to elaborate on what those "reasons" were?"

"Well you recall," said Revan. "We had just taken Taris back from the Mandalorians. Right afterward, Malak and I went back to the Republic and the Jedi to increase recruiting; hoping to use that victory to gain more numbers. I had consolidated around seventy percent of the Navy to hold Taris at all costs."

"Yeah I know," said Lena. "Admiral Karath and I were the ones in charge of the defenses over that world."

"Yeah," said Revan. "Anyway, to my surprise, the Mandalorians didn't make a move. I thought they would, considering that it was fair game for them, but for some reason, they didn't. So I immediately began planning an invasion of Onderon and Dxun, in an effort to not waste any time. I figured that if we hit and retook that system, it would strike a blow that would destroy the Mandalorian fighting spirit, and the war would be over."

"Okay…" said Lena. "What does this have to do with Jaga's Cluster?"

"Time became an issue of concern for me," replied Revan. "Our forces were mobilizing, but they weren't moving fast enough. So, in an effort to stall and create a feint attack, I sent Malak to the Cluster."

"Feint attack?"

"Yeah a diversion," said Revan and Lena rolled her eyes, already knowing what he meant. "That battle couldn't been won even if _you_ were there," continued Revan. "I gave Malak two separate fleets, and told him to destroy the Mandalorian presence in the Cluster. There was no major strategic goal I was trying to accomplish. Jaga's Cluster is like an empty abyss. There are no resources to speak of, no political or financial assets to be gained… nothing. I'm not sure why the Mandalorians even bothered taking it."

"Alright," said Lena. "But you still haven't answered my question. Why did you send Malak? Why not me? I probably could have done better…right?"

"Maybe," said Revan. "But it really didn't matter. See, you have to understand my mindset at the time. When I recruited you into my Joint Chiefs of Staff after Dagary Minor, I knew you were a capable field commander. However, when I brought you in, I considered you to be more of a secret weapon."

"_What!_" said Lena, utterly astonished. "But…I practically led the ground forces on Althir! Nothing really secret about that!"

"There's a difference," said Revan. "You were a secret weapon because the Mandalorians didn't know who you were. You didn't have much of a reputation. Your achievements were not on a remarkably large scale. This sting operation needed credibility. Understand that the Mandalorians feared Malak almost as much as they feared me. Sending Malak to the Cluster would have gotten their attention. If I had sent you there, they would have figured out pretty easily that this was a feint."

"Huh," said Lena auspiciously. "I'm guessing Malak didn't really like the idea of being used as a diversion."

"He didn't complain," said Revan. "I told him he'd have to miss out on Onderon, but he understood the importance. And he craved for action, so it really didn't matter where I sent him as long as there was a war to fight."

"So how did Malak screw it all up?"

"I have no idea," said Revan. "But we lost the entire 26th fleet, and almost half the 27th. Commander Graem was killed in a hand to hand combat against Cassus Fett, and Malak retreated from that battle utterly humiliated."

"So you let him join you on Onderon?"

"I was pissed," said Revan. "Malak's stalling barely lasted a few days, but in that time, I gave the go ahead for O-Day. We hit Onderon and Dxun right then, and the next day, Malak came back with three quarters of his forces gone. I took Onderon myself with General Vaklu. Then I went straight to Dxun to help General Fenix out and speed things up. I had Malak launch a little insurgency to clear out the remaining Mandalorians on Onderon, and then clean up the mess."

"So basically," said Lena. "Jaga Cluster was supposed to be a feint, and mask the real invasion of the Onderon System… but Malak's dumb ass moves basically cost us a fleet and a half and failed to buy us as much time as you had hoped…"

"Yeah, pretty much," said Revan, who was highly amused at this time. "So, that's why I didn't send you to the Cluster."

"That's…" Lena paused. Hearing this from Revan was quite strange to her, because she had been so strong willed and sure of herself that she could have won that battle if she was there instead of Malak, but now it was like Revan had just partially returned the favor and turned her view of the war upside down. Nevertheless, Lena could not help but to be amazed. "I guess that's really something," she said.

"Just setting the record straight," said Revan smiling, but suddenly Lena's entire facial demeanor changed. It was as first as if she attempted to shrug this off like it was no big deal, but the look she gave Revan was of complete and utter shock.

"Wait a minute…" said Lena somewhat cautiously. "_What the hell!_ Did…" she paused to take a breath. "Did your memories come back!"

Revan couldn't take it anymore. He burst into laughter, a combination of humorous and hideous cachinnation. Lena simply stared at him, but Revan nearly resorted to immaturity in his constant convulsion of laughter. "I wish you had a mirror so you could see your face right now! Priceless…absolutely priceless."

"Seriously!" said Lena, who was a bit irritated. "The Force gave you your memories back!" Revan regained his composure as she asked this question.

"Not all of them," said Revan who still had trouble holding back his laughter. "My early life…childhood, Jedi training, my friendship with Malak, and the Mandalorian War up through Dxun is all I remember at this point."

"That's amazing! I've got to tell you, I never expected _that_ to happen."

"I'm just surprised it took you this long to figure it out," said Revan with a chuckle. "We were talking about that battle for a good five minutes."

"Yeah, yeah shut up...but I was just thinking…this is actually a major stroke of luck. Now that you actually remember a lot more about your own life, and you've broken free of the will of the Force, you don't really need me anymore." Revan gave Lena a strange look. "I'm sure you must be sick of my ramblings and my sourness…and my laziness. I know how I can be. Malak used to joke about me, and he used to say behind my back: "It's a good thing Lena's a Jedi, because I couldn't see her finding love even if she tried."

Revan chuckled at Lena's impersonation of Malak. "If I was a twi'lek, I may find you attractive, but your personality would definitely turn me off a little bit," chided Revan. "But what are you saying here Lena? Are you trying to say that you're leaving, and retiring, or we're going our separate ways?"

Lena appeared utterly baffled by Revan's words. "Hell no!" she said. "I didn't think you were capable of making an ass out of you and me like that."

"There you go again."

"I was just saying, since you didn't remember me or anything else, it's been kind of a drag because I've had to do a lot of hand-holding, and as you know that's not really my thing."

"Yeah, don't open up a child babysitting service when you retire."

"Alright really, enough with the jokes. I'm saying, now that you have realized your potential and have been set on a particular path, you don't need me anymore as a guide or a teacher. I have no intention of leaving. I want to fight them; I want to fight beside you, and I want to be your ever loyal soldier, just like old times."

"You do?"

"I am yours to command now. You say 'Jump' and I say 'How high?'"

Revan smiled at the thought but then took a more serious expression. "I see," he said. "Well I certainly want you with me, as I could definitely use a powerful ally like you for this. But you've been to the Unknown Regions and back…no one has _ever_ done that before. You know the enemy, and you have experience fighting them. What makes you think you're _just_ good to me as a soldier?"

"Because I've given you a complete debrief, so now you know everything I know about the True Sith, but how much is that really?"

"I understand that we don't have much to go on, but we have some leads, right?"

"All we know for sure is that they exist, they are incredibly powerful and incredibly dangerous, and they are adamant about their secrecy as a race. But they are a clear danger.

"We know the Grand Sire's name is Rixxon Zazz, and the warden of one of their most secure prisons on Shikara is dead, and was most likely replaced. We also know that they have been the secret driving force behind every massive bloody conflict this galaxy has ever seen, from Ajunta Pall to Naga Sadow to Freedon Nadd to Exar Kun to the Mandalorians. We don't know _anything_ else about them. We don't know their motives or if they have some sort of hidden agenda. We don't know if they have any weaknesses and we don't know anything about the people that they actually control. As far as we can tell, the True Sith are a secret massive unstoppable evil force that is scheming to take over the galaxy…typical Darth Malaks and stupid comic book villains who just want to kill in the name of the dark side and subject the galaxy to their will."

"What's your point?" asked Revan. "I mean, it sure as hell seems that way to me."

"The True Sith are smart. Considering that they have ultimately been responsible for the worst blood-sheds and most horrific conflicts this galaxy has ever seen, and that they've done all of this without ever having to reveal themselves, there is no way it could be that simple. I sense there is a greater meaning or purpose behind their actions." Revan suddenly realized how right Lena was and retracted.

"I see what you're saying here. But going back a little, what does this have to do with you and your inability to be a guide?"

"It means I'm not really qualified to be a guide," said Lena. "I spent four years of my life in a dark prison in True Sith captivity and I only know what they chose to tell me. And I learned that their torture methods are quite insane. I wasn't wandering or journeying. I don't have any contacts on any planets, nor do I have any clue as to what these planets even look like or what they habit. You and I are going to need to do some serious undercover investigating before we just blindly start fighting them."

"You mean snooping."

"I mean, we need to find out where the Sith are vulnerable and how the planets and environments in the Unknown Regions work. We'll need to gain a greater understanding of what the situation is."

"Yes that's probably true, but eight months ago, you said that time was an issue. What if we're too late "investigating" and the Sith invade the Republic and start slaughtering my friends just like in my dream?"

"I said that because I wanted to train you up a bit in case the Sith struck quickly, and made there move sooner than I expected. But now that we can see they haven't, we may have time to learn more about our enemy; time which may prove very valuable indeed, unless I miss my guess."

"Alright," said Revan. "But there is one thing that's still bothering me."

"What's that?"

"There's clearly a distinction between the _Sith_ and the _True Sith_. We've made the True Sith our primary concern, but the remnants of Malak's forces have not been found anywhere...and they are most likely under the command of a new leader. Are we to just... forget about them?"

"I don't think we can really take them on at the same time," said Lena. "And besides, the Republic can take care of them. I'm sure they'll be found eventually."

"I guess..." said Revan. "I just...don't have a good feeling. I don't know; something just doesn't feel right about this."

"I understand," said Lena. "I've had my suspicions as well, but lets not forget how dangerous the True Sith are...and besides, if the True Sith make their move, Malak's forces won't make much of a difference. They will either be destroyed by the True Sith, or they will be rallied under the True Sith banner. We should fight the heart of evil...not the severed arm of it."

"How different are these two?" said Revan. "Would I not be hurting the True Sith by destroying that severed arm?"

"You might," said Lena. "I don't really know; you're the war tactician, but you don't really know the enemy yet. You've done enough against Malak's forces; they will either wither and die on their own, or the Republic will find them and do the job for you. But the Republic doesn't know of the True Sith either...only we do. That's why I think we need to concentrate more on learning the ways of the enemy." Lena took a breath and retracted a bit. "But that's just my suggestion. You're in command now."

Revan sighed and sat down on a rock and sunk his face into his hands. For a few moments, he did not speak, but merely sat still. "I hate this…" he finally said in a somber tone. "I mean, seriously…all I wanted was to go back to being just another Jedi, and just live a peaceful life with Bastila. Now I'm being thrust back into action against an even greater enemy, and I have to leave my friends behind to go off and fight it. I'm starting to think that a man like me will never find rest in a galaxy like this."

Lena walked over to him, and gently put her hand on his shoulder. "You may not…but hey," she whispered and Revan looked up at her. "You've got one friend who'll be with you," she said. "Until death should take me, I will follow you, no matter what the destination. I will fight with you, no matter how crazy the odds. My loyalty is unwavering, Revan. You know that."

Lena walked in front of him and reached out her hand. Revan took it and she pulled him off the rock and into a hug. Revan felt awkward, but also relieved, that Lena was now a friend, a loyal companion, and that there was a more compassionate side of her that had not surfaced until now. He thought it perhaps for the best to forgive Lena for the hell she made him go through during the training.

"Alright then," said Revan, pulling back. "I want you to properly conceal the _Outrider_ for now. We may find use for it later, but for the sake of fuel efficiency, we're taking the _Ebon Hawk_. Pack up the supplies and load them onto the ship. Make sure you leave some space in the storage compartment to hide yourself. I'll go get the droids."

"Why hide?" asked Lena.

"We're going to Telos. Carth Onasi is currently on duty at the developing Citadel Station, and I'm going there to give my final goodbyes. This is not negotiable Lena. My friends deserve to know that I have to leave them."

"I wasn't going to try and stop you," said Lena. "I just didn't think the timing was right last time. You do what you feel you have to do. It's not my call anymore."

"Good," said Revan. "Let's get going."

* * *

_Far away, on the planet Rakata Prime…_

An old man sat with a group of Elders in the Red Settlement with a drink, having a pleasant conversation with them. The Elders at the table burst out with laughter at something the old man had just said.

"It's true, I swear it," said Jolee Bindo. "Bombs were going off all around us, but my wife simply wouldn't break her concentration. I had to run over to her and literally pull her off of her project."

"[Did she not realize that the town was under attack?]" asked Orsaa, the historian of the Elders in the traditional Rakatan tongue, which Jolee was slowly learning.

"I'm sure she did," said Jolee with a smile. "But one thing about my wife, when she dug her teeth in, she didn't let go. She was so focused on fixing the power generator; she didn't care that she could get killed in a second."

"[That was a wonderful story,]" said Ll'awa, the chieftain of the Elder tribe. "[Such determination and persistence of a noble objective speaks volumes of one's character. We Rakata have not seen this quality among humans for quite some time.]"

"Yes, I imagine so," said Jolee. "Well, thank you for the lovely conversation. I'm tired, so I'm going to bed."

"[I've noticed, you've been getting a lot more sleep lately,]" said Orsaa as Jolee stood up.

"Well, with death slowly creeping up on me at my age, I want to get as much sleep as possible. Good night."

"[Good night,]" said the Rakata in unison. Jolee left the room and walked over to his room.

"_Ah…this is the life_," thought Jolee as he lied down on the bed shirtless and began to fade into his slumber.

Two hours passed, and Jolee slept peacefully and pleasantly through the silent night, completely uninterrupted. There was not even the slightest peep from the enclave, for the tribal conflicts were long since over, and the warriors had eased their hardened lifestyle and began to live a more benign life as prosperous civilians. To these people, everything was fine and dandy, and could not be better.

Suddenly Jolee's eyes cropped open as he sat up in shock. Static and mystic noises screamed through his head. He could not blot out the sound until it went away, but his heart was pounding faster and faster.

"_What the hell? A disturbance in the Force?_" thought Jolee, as he stood up looking confused. He quickly reached under his pillow and grabbed his lightsaber, but did not activate it. Opening the door slowly, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open, for what he saw was as horrible as his memories of the Great Sith War.

Ll'awa, the leader of the Elder Rakata lay dead and bloodied in his bed. A large vibroblade was buried directly in the center of his chest, and the blood had spilled all over the bed, staining the covers. His eyes were bulged open, and his mouth was plastered with dry blood, that had covered the bottom of his face. The blood around the body had trickled all the way down his arms, which lay beside him somewhat symmetrically, and it was slowly dripping to the floor from his fingertips.

Jolee gasped louder than he had ever gasped before. He closed the door and ran back into his room, vomiting profusely into the wicker trash bin. He had seen some horrible things during the war, but his time in solitude on Kashyyyk made him forget most of these. This sight however, seemed to bring all these memories back at once, and it made him truly sick to his stomach.

After he finished retching into the bin and wiped his mouth clean, Jolee went back into Ll'awa's bedroom, lightsaber in hand. He moved through quickly, trying not to look at the bloodied remains of his dear friend, and then slipped into the dark hallway, quietly closing the door behind him. The fear that gripped him by the throat was beginning to get to him, and he knew that he would have to master it again, if he was to survive. Stopping in the middle of the hallway, he took several deep breaths and relaxed his muscles, using the Force to tune his Jedi senses. Judging by what he had seen, the blood from Ll'awa was fresh. Whoever had done this, it was very recent. Holding his lightsaber in front of him, Jolee moved forward slowly again.

Suddenly, as if by a grossly adrenalized reflex, Jolee ignited his lightsaber and slashed it diagonally downwards straight in front of him. To his surprise, the leafy colored blade drew blood from a man who stood less than a foot away from him. The stealth generator around the gloomy clothed assassin malfunctioned as he fell to the floor dead. Jolee gasped at the sight, realizing that the Red Settlement was still under attack. Peering further down the hallway, he saw several scattered bodies of Rakatan Warriors. As he looked more closely, there were no signs of any kind of struggle. They had all died quickly, by a simple strike with some sort of blade. Their wounds were fresh, and the death of this assassin confirmed it.

"_I've got to see if there's anyone else alive in here_…" thought Jolee as he continued moving through, but he suddenly stopped at the whisper of a familiar voice.

"[Jolee? Is that you?]" Jolee turned and saw Orsaa standing right behind him.

"Orsaa!" said Jolee. "Ll'awa's dead, I wasn't sure if anyone else was alive."

"[Everyone here has been slain…including my brother. It's horrible!]"

"I know," said Jolee. "But we've got to go now. The longer we stay here, the more chance we have of death taking us. And I intend for death to take me when I'm sleeping, not like this. Stay beside me." The two began moving forward again slowly, their backs against each other. Jolee moved forward, while Orsaa watched his back."

They passed two rooms in the hallway, peering inside both of them, only to see more fresh Rakatan corpses. They finally entered a very large room with a lot of open space. Still standing back to back, they attempted to move towards the library, which was at the very end.

"[I can hear the breath of someone close by…]" said Orsaa.

Before Jolee could respond, Orsaa swung his double edged sword horizontally driving both blades through an invisible wooden staff and cleaving it in two. Without even thinking, Orsaa dropped down with a spinning sweep kick that knocked the assassin off his feet, and then jumped up with a back flipping double front kick in the air, causing this assassin's stealth generator to malfunction as well. While still in the air, Orsaa dealt a spinning double inward crescent kick with the inner knife edge of his left foot smashing and knocking off the assassin's breathing mask. The assassin fell backwards and plopped to the floor unconscious and slowly dying of suffocation as Orsaa landed on her feet.

"Nice one," said Jolee with a modest grin, but the door of the library suddenly opened and the two could hear the increasingly heavy patter of footsteps that filled the room on all sides. Stealth assassins were surrounding them and they could not be seen.

"[_SHOW YOURSELVES!_]" yelled Orsaa.

As if immediately granting his wish, the howling of stealth generators deactivating echoed through the room as thirty dark figures appeared in plain sight in a circle around them. They stood in a radius of ten feet from them, and each assassin possessed a different weapon: some with vibroblades, some with sais, others with Scout Blaster Pistols; and some just stood unarmed with their fists clenched. These black dressed men stood like statues around the two bewildered individuals in an enclosed envelope, their red eyes menacingly bearing down on them with a demeanor of lust and eagerness.

* * *

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	11. Chapter 10: Reunion

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black

* * *

C****hapter 10**

**Reunion

* * *

**

In his own memory, Revan had never seen Telos before. All he knew about it was that it was once a lush and beautiful world that teemed with life and robbed one of any and all negative moods or feelings. With the exception of the polar region, the planet was much like Alderaan. Long sandy beaches bordered the oceans and the ocean breeze loomed through the grasslands. The wildlife and productive forms of nature were completely passive and non-threatening. Carth had once spoken to him of how beautiful the planet was and how everything changed after the bombs started falling.

Revan did not look forward to seeing this world, knowing what had happened to it, but he was nonetheless shocked and awed when Lena brought the _Ebon Hawk_ out of hyperspace and into the Kwymar Sector of the Telos System. The suffocation and desperation of the dying world was felt instantly by Revan and it also caught his eye all the way from the cockpit. Lena had no immediate reaction, for she had already seen this world before coming to Coruscant. Needless to say, the horror Revan experienced at the sight of this was exactly the same that Lena felt when she saw it a year before.

The destruction of the planet was the deed of Admiral Saul Karath, once a war hero of the Republic and the mentor of Carth Onasi. When Admiral Karath defected and joined Darth Malak, he proved his loyalty by giving the codes to bypass the Republic defenses and put forth his actions that led to the near-complete devastation of that world. Carth's wife Morgana died in the bombings and his son Dustil went missing. Such a traumatic loss nearly drove Carth to kill the Admiral in cold blood. Revan thought deeply about this, as well as the memories that he had gained back thus far.

His thoughts shifted to himself as the ship slowly approached the space station, which was nearly complete in its construction. Revan thought it rather ironic that even though he had achieved such a greater understanding of the Force, he was confused about something as low key as memory. This was no in depth analysis of the space time continuum, and yet the very nature of Revan's memories was perplexing nonetheless, due to which ones that came back first. He reflected back to the slow progression of HK-47's repairs before its full memories returned to it. The assassin droid's memories came back in a reverse chronological order, meaning they started with its most recent memories before it was purchased by the Ithorian, Yuka Laka. Revan's memories however, were much more complex.

"Are you alright?" asked Lena who had been keeping her eye on Revan since she pulled the ship out of hyperspace. "You're a little tense."

"I'll be fine," said Revan. "Just… wasn't expecting to see Telos like this."

"There's something else bothering you though," said Lena with an air of empathy.

"I'm just not sure about how I feel about seeing my friends again. I'm overjoyed, but at the same time worried. I'm coming back just to tell them I have to leave again. They're not going to like this. And I know I can't tell them the truth, otherwise they'll just force themselves on board."

"I think it's for the best that you don't," said Lena. "But it's up to you."

"I'm also just a little mingled in my thoughts, because I am basically preparing myself to lie to my friends and loved ones, especially about something as serious as this. They're going to think that I'm going alone to the Unknown Regions in search of some kind of phantom menace. I really don't like this."

"Just relax, and think about it," said Lena. "I'm confident that you in your renowned ability to persuade will find a way."

Revan sighed. It almost seemed hopeless in his eyes. He was so good at convincing others, and yet so unsure of himself at the same time. He knew that he probably had the ability to convince a hundred people to jump into a trash compacter, yet he was at a complete and utter loss for ideas.

"I just want this over with as quickly as possible. I don't want to drag this out and hurt them anymore than I have to…but I'm fresh out of ideas."

"You have _anything_ in mind?" said Lena.

"I thought it best to leave some instructions and requests for Carth, Bastila, and Juhani. I'm not as worried about that."

"But you're sure you still want to see them?"

"Absolutely," said Revan. "I owe them this much. And I don't know when I'll see them again, and I'd like to be reminded again what we're fighting for."

"And you made prior contact I assume, right?"

"Yup," said Revan. "It's pretty much all taken care of. Bastila, Carth, Canderous, and Juhani should be there."

"Alright," said Lena. "We're in range of their communication sensors. You can send the transmission now." Revan looked at the controls.

"Uh," he stammered. "How exactly do I do that?" Lena was completely thunderstruck by this comment.

"You…you don't know how to fly a ship?"

"I can fix one," bragged Revan, attempting to make up, also remembering that throughout the quest for the Star Forge Carth and Bastila had done all the flying. "Maybe I knew once, and I don't remember." Lena calmed down after that statement. At this point, Revan was really venting his frustration at himself, but Lena seemed to understand.

"Flick that switch upward and then press the green button," she replied. "Then flick the switch back down to break the comm." Revan did as he was told and waited a few seconds. When the feed finally came through, he spoke.

"_Ebon Hawk_ to Citadel Station, can anybody read me?"

"Roger that _Ebon Hawk_…ID signature confirmed. Go ahead…"

"Requesting permission to dock," replied Revan. "I have a message for Carth Onasi." There was no response for several seconds.

"Permission granted," replied the voice which oddly almost sounded like the voice of the late Taris crime lord, Davik Kang, which humored Revan a bit. "You may land in docking bay three. I'll let the Captain know of your arrival." Revan broke off communication as Lena set the automatic controls for landing.

"Alright Revan," said Lena. "Just like we talked about, I'll be under the floorboards in the garage after I'm done shutting down the droids. When you're finished saying goodbye, tap the floor four times."

"You're sure you're okay with this?" asked Revan. "I mean…I just think it would be better for them if they thought I was only taking the droids with me."

"It's alright," said Lena. "I know you have to do this. Just make sure they think you're going alone."

"Yeah," said Revan.

"I've set the controls for bay three. "Whatever you do, _don_'_t_ touch anything." Revan smirked as Lena left the cockpit.

"Alright, thanks," said Revan.

As Lena left her chair, she gently put her hand on Revan's shoulder. "Hey," she said. "Just relax. It'll come to you in the moment."

The _Ebon Hawk_ landed in the bay and the loading ramp was automatically lowered. Revan stood at the very top and began to descend as the hanger bay door opened a somewhat middle-aged Republic soldier appeared to greet him.

"I'm Gunnery Sergeant Dol Grenn, Twentieth Republic Infantry Division" said the man, in a voice that Revan immediately recognized again.

"Thanks for clearing me to land," said Revan with a smile.

"No problem," Grenn replied. "What's the cargo on this vessel?"

"Just two droids," replied Revan. "They're shut down for now, and my ship's a little low on fuel."

"That's fine," said Grenn. "Captain Onasi told us to refuel the ship, and not to charge you for it."

"Oh," said Revan with an air of surprise. "I'll be sure to thank…the Captain," said Revan. "Where is he now?"

"I have orders to take you to him…if you will follow me please?"

"Alright," he said. Revan followed but lingered a few steps behind the man. Together, they headed for the monorail, to the Republic headquarters, located on the other side of Citadel Station.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Jolee hurled his lightsaber forward, sending it spinning straight into the assassin in front of him and leapt up into the air with a back flip avoiding contact with another assassin that attempted to stab him in the back with a vibroblade. Jolee summoned the lightsaber back to him as he landed, and the lightsaber cleaved through the assassin, dropping him to the floor.

Meanwhile, Orsaa was fending off a small group of assassins on the other side of the room. He struck down the assassin in front of him and then redirected a blaster bolt back at the assassin who fired while hanging from the wall. The assassin dropped to the floor lifeless. Putting himself onto the defensive, he ducked a high roundhouse kick and launched forward slashing through the assassin's side with his double bladed staff.

Jolee spun the lightsaber in his hand and twirled it in front of him, deflecting a storm of blood red blaster bolts aimed at him from three different assassins. After Force pushing the assassins backwards against the wall, He summoned the three blasters towards him and cut through all three in a single stroke of his blade.

Orsaa hit the wall as one of the assassins kicked him in the gut. Another assassin hurled a sai straight at his face, but Orsaa dodged it and the sai nailed itself into the wall. The assassin turned away and headed for Jolee instead. A group of four assassins formed a semicircle around Orsaa, as he stood cornered against the wall. The two in front of him were wielding vibroblades, while the two to his corner angles were bare fisted.

The four charged at once, at Orsaa who was no more than a few inches from the wall. Raising his staff high and blocking the two blades in front of him simultaneously, Orsaa jumped up and hit the two in the separate corners with a front kick at once. They retracted a bit, as the assassins in front of him pulled back and aimed separate strikes at him. Orsaa parried both in opposite directions, in a stroke so hard that he used the momentum to spin all the way and strike the assassin to his right downwards and to the floor. Before Orsaa could move towards the two on his front and left side, a straight punch from his right flank hit him in the temple and slammed him onto his side to the floor.

Although fairly winded by this, Orsaa rolled, dodging the ferocious downward strikes from the vibroblade of the assassin behind him. As he rolled again, the attacker was struck from behind by a green lightsaber.

Jolee dodged a kick from another assassin and caught his leg in the air. Jolee flipped him over his back and onto the floor with a hard thud, breaking his spine. As he did this, Orsaa leapt up to his feet, but before he had time to grab his staff, the assassin who had punched him had pulled the sai out of the wall. The assassin held the single sai in reverse grip and began to rain strikes at him. Orsaa backed up and dodged the strikes, until finally catching a forward thrust at his stomach. Orsaa yanked the sai towards his left side, pulling the assassin with it. The assassin was pulled straight into Orsaa's outward elbow, which was followed by a back fist, forcing the assassin backwards. Orsaa front flipped on the floor with his hands and knees and threw a barrage of seven sidekicks at the assassin all while slightly off the ground, sending the assassin crashing into the wall and rendering him unconscious, broken, and finished. Orsaa dashed backwards and grabbed his staff again, just barely dodging a blow from another assassin. He charged towards a small group of three assassins who were less than three meters away from him.

Meanwhile, Jolee had been battling an exceptionally skilled assassin with a pair of sais. Forced on the defensive by a set of lightning fast blows from the assassin, Jolee backed up and parried blow after blow, but the assassin persisted and did not give him an opportunity to intercept them. In desperation, Jolee aggressively aimed his saber forward and downward at him. The assassin intercepted his blow with both sais and held it firm as he drove his right knee into Jolee's stomach. As he bent over slightly from the knee, Jolee slid his saber out of the assassin's weapon grip and barely managed to dodge a front kick from his left leg. Jolee regained his form as the assassin charged forward again attempting to drive him back into the wall. The assassin extended both sais out in a double thrust at Jolee's stomach, but Jolee stepped to the side, causing the sharp edges to scratch his bare skin on the right side. Before the assassin could pivot to the right and face him, Jolee slashed his saber downward on his right side and cut his left arm off. The assassin let out a yelp of pain as Jolee drove a left roundhouse kick straight into his left temple. The assassin's head hit the wall on the other side as the rest of his body fell backwards as well. Still conscious, the assassin attempted to get up, but Jolee dealt him a straight punch with his right fist, crushing his breathing mask into his face. The assassin crocked and died right there, as Jolee shook the blood off his knuckles and moved on.

Orsaa spun and sliced across the chest of an assassin, killing him instantly and then dealt a backward thrust to the stomach of another from behind him. A flying dagger came straight for Orsaa's head, but Jolee dashed forward and caught it with his left hand. As the assassin who threw it began to run forward at him, Jolee ducked the sideways blow of another one behind him and sprung upward, slitting the throat of the charging assassin. As he turned, the assassin behind him kicked him in the head, forcing him backward and flat onto the floor with his lightsaber flying out of his hand. With his body heavily perspiring, Jolee summoned a large pile of weapons at the assassin who was advancing on him. The assassin pulled a Scout Blaster Pistol out of his right leg and fired at the weapons one by one disintegrating them individually. As he did this, Jolee summoned his lightsaber back to him and ignited it. The grass colored blade emanated from the hilt again, as he attempted to get back up on his feet. That same assassin dealt a series of rapid firing at Jolee, but he deflected his shots with ease.

As the assassin pulled out a sword from his back sheath, a blade penetrated his armor. The assassin stopped dead in his tracks, and the sword that had just stabbed him was yanked upward, cleaving him in half. Jolee's expression turned into a light smirk when he saw Orsaa standing where the assassin had died. Orsaa extended his right hand and pulled Jolee up to his feet.

"Thanks for that," panted Jolee.

"[Don't mention it,]" said Orsaa while also gasping heavily.

The two of them looked around the room, seeing the bodies of all thirty assassins that they had just killed. Although they were not keeping score, Jolee had taken out eighteen of them, while Orsaa had killed twelve. For several minutes, they simply stood back to back and attempted to catch their breath. Jolee had finally switched off his lightsaber. Orsaa sank to his knees and burst into a heavy set of tears.

* * *

_Back on Citadel Station…_

"Carth and your friends are in Conference Room B, just over there." said Sergeant Grenn as he pointed towards the door.

Revan nodded in gratitude and walked over to open the door as the soldier returned to his duties. He stood facing the door, knowing this would be his last chance to collect his thoughts before he jumped into the fire. The former dark lord took a deep breath and opened the door.

In the conference room were Carth Onasi, Canderous Ordo, Bastila Shan, and Juhani. Revan's immediate reaction was that he was pleased to see them again, but he was still unsure of what to say. He sat down on the opposite end of the table from them, and for at least a minute, there was absolute silence between them. They simply stared at him, and he stared back at all of them.

In an effort to break the silence, Juhani spoke in her usual Cathar accent of rolling 'r's and a hard pronunciation of 'th's. "There is something different about you Revan. I can feel it, but I cannot quite describe it."

"I feel it too," said Bastila. "Anything you want to tell us? After all, that is why we're here."

"Doesn't anybody say hello anymore?" said Canderous in his usual gruff voice. "Hey Revan; nice to see you; how are you; how have you been; how's your hammer hanging?" None of them laughed at this last remark.

Revan finally broke his own silence and said. "Hello everybody and the feeling is very mutual. It's great to see you all again."

The conversation was not beginning in the best possible way for Revan, but he was still unsure of what he would say to them. He was never used to being the bearer of bad news, as he remembered what it was like telling them that he was Darth Revan. In his fortune, the crew seemed to understand and sympathize, but he knew that the crew would react differently this time.

"So…how'd that training go?" said Bastila who seemed to feel just as awkward.

"It went well," said Revan. "It was pretty intense, but Lena taught me a lot. I'm stronger…and I think a better man for it. That's probably what you're feeling right now."

"You know it's times like this that make me glad I'm not a Jedi," said Carth. "You look exactly the same to me. What are you two talking about?"

"It's nothing really," lied Revan. "I'm just stronger. I'd show you, but I might accidentally set fire to the station."

"So you lost control?" said Canderous rather coyly.

"No," said Revan. "And I hope not to."

"So how come I have never heard of this "Lena" person?" asked Juhani.

"She's uh…" Revan paused for a moment. "She was a Jedi a while ago. She's kind of retired." Revan took absolutely no pleasure in lying to his friends, and it almost made him sick to his stomach. "Well…retired from teaching. She's actually gone to look for the Exile." This was an even worse lie, but nobody seemed to care, except for Carth.

"That's going to be tough," said Carth. "She's not likely to be found…I'm guessing she probably also doesn't _want_ to be found. Wait…how did _you_ know about the Exile?"

"She and Lena were friends before and during the Mandalorian War," said Revan, who felt slightly better now. "But actually, there's something else. And this is the real reason I wanted to talk to all of you."

"What is going on?" asked Juhani.

Revan sighed. "Look, you all know how I feel about you. You know how much I love and care for you all, and that I would take a laser blast to save any of you. I trust you with my life, and if I ever had children…I'd trust you all with their lives too. You're everything to me." Revan stopped to eye his friends to see their reactions. They all looked a bit perplexed.

"You are not a father…right?" said Juhani.

"That would be against the Jedi teachings…" said Bastila who was feeling horribly uncomfortable at the moment.

It had been almost an entire year since they had last seen each other face to face, and she remembered how she had told him that she needed time to sort things out. During their time apart, Bastila had suffered immensely. All she had to lean on was the Force bond she shared with Revan, in which she could sometimes tap into it and feel his thoughts or emotions, but she herself was a complete wreck. Just as Revan was able to take his mind off of Bastila by physical exercise, Bastila was able to do it either by practicing her Battle Meditation ability, or by training younglings. But she quickly grew to regret putting a hold on their relationship, for she too was feeling incomplete without him. She no longer felt frightened or uncomfortable with the idea of living a lie. In her heart, she knew that the love she shared with Revan was pure, noble, and worth preserving, and that the Jedi were wrong to ban it. It was the love she and Revan shared that saved her from the dark side of the Force. It was the love she and Revan shared that stayed Revan's blade when he could have just as easily ended her life as it was on the Star Forge.

The empty feeling she was experiencing was no different even while being in the same room with him and the others, because she could not yet say what she had wanted to tell him for months. Revan's comment about being a father seemed to touch a nerve.

"Yeah, yeah," said Revan. "And no, I'm not a dad. I don't think I'd make a very good dad."

"Nonsense," said Carth. "Maybe your old self…but not you as of now…"

"Yeah well again, I didn't come to talk about that. But since we're on that subject; how are things between you and Dustil…_Captain Onasi?_" he asked in a mocking tone.

Carth laughed. "Yeah I got promoted after Yavin. I don't even think I deserved it too, because we came up with nothing."

"Maybe Admiral Dodonna likes you…" said Canderous with a sickly grin.

"She's married you idiot," said Carth while slightly blushing. "And besides…you don't address your superiors like that…_Commander_."

Canderous rolled his eyes and made a quick and slightly disgruntled response. "I'm off duty."

"And _I_ gave you the job," retorted Carth.

"Alright both of you, shut it," growled Revan sternly. Carth and Canderous immediately turned to Revan as if they shrugged it off completely at Revan's request.

"Still the ever persuasive leader," said Juhani with a smile. "Nice to see that you have not lost your touch."

"So," interrupted Bastila. "You were saying something about how much you loved, cared for, and trusted us?"

"Yes," said Revan. "Until I was rudely interrupted…" He gave Carth and Canderous a stare. "Where I was leading to was…" he paused for a moment and closed his eyes. "_You can do it. C_'_mon Revan. Just say it,_" he thought.

"What?" said Carth and Canderous in unison.

"I've regained some of my old memories back," he blurted. Stopping to study their reactions again, the aura seemed universal. Everyone at the table was shocked. The next thirty seconds was filled with another uncomfortable silence. "_Ah shit,_" thought Revan. "_I probably should have told them to brace themselves…_"

Canderous was the first to break the silence. "Didn't see that coming…"

"Exactly what do you remember?" asked Carth in a particularly cautious tone of voice that Revan identified.

"Relax Carth," he said. "I haven't fallen or anything. Ask Bastila or Juhani if you don't believe me." Carth looked over to Bastila and she replied with a simple nod.

Though she did so, Bastila was also somewhat concerned at a number of things. She could sense Revan's sincerity, but a small part of her could not help but to question his words. The biggest question floating in front of her mind was: "_Is the man I love still in there?_" Every instinct of hers said yes, but she still wasn't completely sure.

Revan explained to them the memories that had come back; how they were scrambled and indecipherable at first, but how they became much clearer over the last four months.

"That's strange," said Canderous. "I would have thought you'd have remembered everything in reverse chronological order…like that mechanical terminator you got." Revan smiled, humored at the parallels of their thoughts, but Canderous thought Revan was humored by his use of the term "mechanical terminator."

"Yeah, it confounds me some as well. But…there's something else."

"Does it have to do with you remembering something?" asked Juhani.

"Yeah," lied Revan. "It does."

"What do you remember?" asked Carth.

Revan opened his mouth but no words came out. He was thinking of what to say and for some reason, none of them could tell. "_Damn,_" he thought. "_I shouldn_'_t have said I _"_remembered_"_ something._" He took a deep breath and then spoke the first thing that came to mind. "There is something...or _was_ something…odd…about the Mandalorian War."

"What's odd?" asked Canderous who was becoming increasingly interested and had taken a much more serious demeanor.

"_This is good…_" thought Revan. "_I just have to roll with it._" He spoke again. "I think the Jedi Council may have been right… about there being some kind of hidden threat…but it wasn't me. It's something else."

"What?" asked Bastila.

"I don't know," said Revan. "But it's made me feel very uneasy these past couple of months." "_Not the truth…but not exactly a lie either,_" he thought.

"Alright," said Carth. "I see no evidence of this at all. Are you sure this is real?"

"Absolutely," said Revan. "And that leads me to point C."

"Oh dear," said Juhani sarcastically. "Not another surprise please…"

"_This is it…_" thought Revan. "_Be blunt… that_'_s all you can do. No sugarcoating. Damn it! I can_'_t!_" Revan couldn't take it anymore. His stalling was killing him. He couldn't say it, but he could not be more scared of what their reactions would be, but he had to tell them something. He wasn't even making eye contact with them anymore. "_NO! Don_'_t cower out!_" These thoughts were screaming in his head. "_Be strong! Tell them! You have to! You have no other choice! Say it! SAY IT!_"

"Spit it out already!" yelled Canderous. Unbeknownst to Revan, his thinking had caused him to stare at the floor for nearly thirty seconds, leaving his friends completely suspended.

"I've decided to leave the known galaxy. I'm going into the Unknown Regions, and I have no idea when I'll be coming back."

Revan could not have been blunter about it than this. The crew was completely taken aback by this. Their jaws all dropped at the exact same time. For another thirty seconds, they simply stared at him, and he had no choice but to stare back to prove his sincerity. It felt like hours.

"Did I hear this right?" said Carth sarcastically.

"I think we did," said Juhani. "Are you crazy Revan? None who venture there have ever returned!" Revan opened his mouth to use Lena to disprove her point, but common sense took over and he bit his tongue.

"What exactly are you looking for?" asked Bastila, who was finding more difficult than ever to burst out in tears. She had yet to fully determine if Revan was serious, but just the thought of his departure was heartbreaking.

"Well, I don't actually know…" said Revan. This was an even worse lie then before, but somehow everyone seemed to believe him.

"So…" began Canderous. "Let me get this straight. You're planning to go to the most dangerous places in the galaxy…places where no one has ever returned from…you don't know when you're coming back…and you don't even know what you're looking for?"

"I have some ideas," said Revan somewhat defensively.

"Yeah?" said Carth. "Like what?"

"Look," said Revan. "There are places in this galaxy that I need to walk; places I need to walk alone. I wouldn't risk the safety of any of you on a threat I know so little about. Look this isn't about _me_…but I just have to do this."

"I do not approve of this," said Juhani. "But I do not suppose we can talk you out of this."

"No," said Revan, and his next thoughts immediately became dialogue. "But I know there is something out there…something that could pose a serious threat to all of us…and I need to find it…and fight it. I don't know if I'll be able to return and see you all again, so that's why I wanted to tell you this."

"Well if you're going to make that kind of effort," said Carth. "Then you owe us an explanation."

"I agree with Carth," said Bastila. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Fine," said Revan with angst. "_Damn it,_" he thought. "_They never make it easy…_"

"Come on!" said Carth and Canderous at once.

"Like I said…it's about the Mandalorian War. My memories so far indicate that the Mandalorians could not and did not start that war on their own. Something else was driving it. Something… or someone was pulling the strings, and I need to find out what it is."

Revan turned to Canderous, expecting a punch in the face. The Mandalorian's face was completely stern. His arms were crossed and for almost a minute, he and Revan were locked in a staring contest. When Canderous finally blinked, he spoke. "Alright," Canderous said. "I'm in. When do we leave?"

Everyone turned and looked at Canderous. Carth, Juhani, and Bastila looked at him like he was out of his mind, but Canderous kept his eye on Revan, who returned the glance. Canderous already knew what Revan was thinking, but Revan said it anyway. "Sorry old friend; I have to go alone."

"You're hunting a ghost," he wittingly replied. "You know I can help you out."

"Canderous," said Revan, deepening his tone slightly. "You know that I trust and respect you, as I do all of you." He looked to all of them as he spoke. "But the only things I'm taking with me are the _Ebon Hawk_ and the droids…and some supplies."

"That's not good enough!" growled Canderous, raising his voice. "You're telling me, that you think the Mandalorians…my people…those with enough strength and willpower to match a Jedi's, were manipulated and coerced into starting a conflict that nearly brought about their own extinction! And now you're asking me to sit this one out! I need a_ real_ reason!"

Something about his last statement suddenly triggered a flash of brilliance in Revan's mind. Though he did not let it show, Revan was now deeply immersed in his own thoughts. An opportunity had just come to mind, and Revan was aching in his efforts to hide it. "_Wow…_" he thought. "_I am a genius…truly a genius. Let_'_s see how this plays out._"

"Is there any particular reason you're leaving everyone who cares about you behind?" said Bastila, whose voice alerted Revan almost immediately.

"Yes," replied Revan. "As I said before I won't risk the safety of my friends on this. The risk is mine to bear."

"Unbelievable," said Juhani. "You do realize the council is not going to be happy about this. Even Master Vandar will not be able to defend your actions this time."

"Yes I know. And that's something I will deal with if I have to." said Revan. "But there is yet another reason I'm here. There are things I need to ask you all. First off I need you all to keep this conversation to yourselves."

"That's not going to be easy Revan," said Bastila.

"You have to," responded Revan. "All of you know that I'm going after a threat that I've discovered…and Mission and Zaalbar know that I'm leaving too. But if the rest of the galaxy found out, it could start a panic, and that's the last thing we need. If whatever this threat is…has some kind of watchful eye on the activity of this galaxy, they'll figure out that I'm coming after it, and I need to keep my presence there a secret…at least for now.

"Not even the council?" asked Juhani.

"Not even the council," replied Revan. "They can't know of this, because it will shift their priorities. Their primary concern should be on rebuilding the Order…but if they find out that I've left because I'm hunting an invisible threat, they might divert their attention to hunting me, and that's the last thing I want." Revan was right about this, but he still did not feel good at all. Lying to his friends was getting easier, but the easier it got, the worse Revan felt about himself. "_I_'_m a terrible person,_" he thought. "_But Canderous is probably going to like what I eventually have to say…_"

Revan turned to Bastila who he was worried about the most. He felt her thoughts and could tell how on edge she was, almost to the point of quivering. He knew that she was not taking this very well, but to his surprise, she made it public.

"You're being an idiot Revan!" blurted Bastila. "You've just earned the trust of the Jedi Order, and now you want to break it by going on some scavenger hunt in the Unknown Regions! What the hell has gotten into you! Did that Lena woman get you involved in something?"

"I already told you," said Revan, attempting to retract a bit. "Lena and I have gone our separate ways. And during this past year, all I did was train. And I would never…not…not with Lena. She's older than me." Revan felt stupid about slipping on these words, but he immediately thought of a fallback statement. "If I'm lying, may Darth Malak himself rise from the dead and strike me down!"

Now Revan felt worse than ever; almost to the point of hoping that Malak would burst through the door and attack him. The crew began exchanging looks at each other again, but this time a whole different mentality occupied their thoughts.

"_Has Revan gone insane! He_'_s actually planning on doing this… but for what possible reason other than this! Can we still trust him!_" These were some of the thoughts that filled their heads, except for Canderous who was still fuming with anger.

"If I can't go with you…" began Canderous. "You better have a damn good assignment for me, other than training fresh Republic recruits. I can't do that forever."

"Actually," said Revan. "Aside from keeping my departure secret, I do have some individual favors for all of you. Canderous…" Revan paused to eyeball his Mandalorian friend again. "Let's take a walk."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

It had been at least half and hour, and the overall situation in the Red Settlement had not changed. Jolee was still utterly exasperated and stretching out on the floor, trying not to think about the death of his friend Ll'awa. Orsaa was practically in a fetal position, utterly abhorred. For this entire time, neither one of them had said a word. It was a period of the longest uncomfortable silence either of them had ever experienced, but neither of them possessed the words to explain their sadness. Finally, Orsaa broke the silence.

"[Everyone else has been slain,]" said Orsaa, still in tears. "[It's over for us… my death will render the Elders extinct…]" Jolee could hear the depression and anxiety in Orsaa's voice. Despite being a skilled warrior, Orsaa was but a historian and philosopher. He had never experienced anything like this, and little did he know, but they had been fighting non-stop for over an hour. "[I do not know what to do,]" he pleaded. Jolee did not answer him, but merely nodded his head, understanding. "[I just…just need to check…on the library.]"

Orsaa began moving towards the library, which was the room that they were right in front of. As Orsaa was about to open the door, Jolee suddenly felt another blood wrenching disturbance in the Force. He called out to Orsaa.

"Orsaa! No! No, wait! _STOP!_" he yelled, but it was too late.

Orsaa had just opened the door to the library, and as if in slow motion Jolee saw the flash of a blood red lightsaber blade slice straight through Orsaa's torso. The last of the Elder Rakata stopped dead in his tracks and the top half of his body fell off the lower half and plopped to the floor.

Jolee's eyes immediately welled up with tears as he watched his good friend die, but this was nothing compared to the sight of the figure who emerged from the shadows and entered the large room, stepping on the top half of Orsaa's body.

The man who stood before Jolee was bald and his skin was dark-gray. He was shirtless, just like Jolee, but wore black boots and black pants with silver buckles on the sides below the knees. He had a degenerate appearance, so grotesque that it made Jolee's blood run cold, just by looking at him.

The man's face and upper body was cut, scraped, scratched, scarred, bit, beat, bruised, burned, fractured, and sliced thousands of times. Both the man's eyes were intact and unscathed, but the man's ear lobes were disproportionate, one of them being cut from the bottom a bit more than the other. This man looked like the type of person who enjoys sleeping with vibroblades. He was a veteran of war, violence, and to Jolee, it was unclear what was holding him together.

"Greetings, Padawan Bindo," boomed the man in a deep, raspy, and bass-like voice.

Without even replying, Jolee reignited his lightsaber and charged. As he swung, the man caught his arm and dealt him a swift uppercut in the stomach. Jolee's body lurched forward, but the man kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him back a few meters and then onto the floor. Jolee groaned as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Oh please, Padawan," pleaded the man in a highly sarcastic tone. "Do not waste your energy so frivolously. I have no desire to slay a man my age until he is properly rested and prepared."

"_Your_ age?" said Jolee while coughing slightly. "Who are you and how the hell do you know who I am?" He panted for breath as he spoke these words.

"Ha!" exclaimed the man, following up with a hideously slow and evil laugh. "You are indeed Jolee Bindo: Former supply smuggler and Jedi Padawan; veteran of the Great Sith War; recipient of the Cross of Glory in the fight against Darth Malak; married once to Nayama Bindo…"

"_Enough!_" yelled Jolee.

"Ah," said the man. "It is indeed a sensitive topic for you, is it not?"

"You still haven't answered my question," said Jolee. "Who are you and how do you know all this?"

"She spoke of you, you know," said the man, who appeared to have ignored the question. "She told us all about you wooed her, how you trained her, and how you would not embrace the strength that she offered you."

Jolee was at a loss for words. Memories of his wife filled his head, but the most painful one of all stood in front of all of them, the moment she raised her blade against him. The other man seemed to be sadistically enjoying tormenting Jolee with the nightmares of his past.

"How the hell did you know my wife!" yelled Jolee.

"She was quite skilled," he replied. "And powerful; you trained her well. I remember watching her die on Yavin. Triple teamed; quite sad really." The man proceeded with another deep laugh.

"I've heard enough!" said Jolee. "After Force grabbing a brick from the wall, Jolee sent it flying straight for the man's head, but the man simply reignited his lightsaber and sliced the brick in half right at the face level.

"It is not your moment yet," said the man. Jolee retracted, for he had no idea what to do at the moment. He knew that eventually he would have to fight this man, but the prelude to the combat was dominated by the haunting visions of his past. He did not know which he dreaded more. "Tell me Padawan," continued the man. "After all that has happened, do you still not recognize me?" Jolee gave him a shocked look.

"We've met before?"

"Indeed," he said. "I slew so many Jedi at that last battle on Yavin IV, and yet I was destroyed by you in the end." Jolee gasped and gazed in horror. More memories flooded into his mind of the last battle of the Great Sith War that took place on the jungle surface of Yavin IV.

Jolee was in command of a battalion of Jedi Knights, and ironically none of them knew that Jolee had never passed the rank of Padawan. He had earned this rank due to his skill and his ability to keep calm and make decisions in the heat of battle. At the start of his mission, Jolee fought with everyone, but did not successfully kill any Sith. He merely did all he could to keep his friends alive. However, the sight of a single Sith Marauder murdering his comrades left and right like child's play drew him away. Jolee moved to intercept and got caught in a duel. The two of them had fought for what seemed like hours, but in the end, Jolee had vigorously cut him to shreds.

Now he realized who this man was. This was the same man Jolee killed so many years ago in the jungles of Yavin IV. Only this man wasn't dead; he had the look of one who had been killed thousands of times, but he was very much alive and dreadful in appearance. This Sith and Jolee Bindo simply stared at each other for over a minute, as if waiting for the other to blink. Jolee then deeply sighed and began to calm his mind.

"And yet…here you are," said Jolee.

"Yes," said the man. "My name is Darth Sion. I am the Lord of Pain. I am here to return the favor. You are a decrepit old fool Padawan Bindo, and your death shall mark the beginning of the Great Purge. In the name of the all powerful Sith Triumvirate, the time for your death is nigh."

Sion reignited his blood colored red lightsaber and held it against Jolee's.

"Who are _you_ calling decrepit?" growled Jolee with a slight smirk, as he jumped back into action.

* * *

_We hope you enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight"._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	12. Chapter 11: Instructions

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Instructions

* * *

**

Canderous and Revan left the conference room for a private conversation, leaving Bastila, Juhani, and Carth inside. The three of them were all baffled completely and none of them could individually make sense of what they had just heard.

The silence between them was broken by Juhani. "Do either of you think there is any way to stop Revan?"

"I can't have him arrested or detained, if that's what you mean," said Carth. "He hasn't broken the law."

"Bastila, you and Revan have a bond…anything you could do?" Juhani had turned to face Bastila.

"Our bond gives me glimpses into his mind every once in a while, but I can't force him to do anything he doesn't want to."

"I feel like we have to," said Juhani. "We need all the Jedi we can get," said Juhani. "The order has still not recovered from Darth Malak, and Revan is crucial to our rebuilding."

"As a figurehead yes," said Bastila. "But Revan is no teacher, and the council doesn't trust him enough to increase his rank to Master."

"So are we all agreeing that this is a bad idea?" interjected Carth.

"Unless you do not," said Juhani. They both turned to Bastila.

"I…" Bastila paused without the resolve to continue speaking.

Bastila was still stuck in a whirlpool of emotions at this point. She wanted nothing more than to be in Revan's arms; to be loved as a lifetime companion. She wanted it so badly, she was even willing to leave the Order in order to do it, but she knew that no matter what, she could not divulge this feeling to anyone. The mental stress was absolutely searing.

"Bastila, are you okay?" asked Carth.

"There's something else that's troubling him," she finally said, apparently ignoring Carth's question. "I can't sense any major deception in him, but I've got a really strong feeling that he knows more than what he told us."

"Are you suspecting him of telling us the truth, but not the _whole_ truth?" asked Carth.

"Again," said Bastila. "I don't know…there's just something not right about this."

"Revan is about to leave everything behind for a suicide crusade in the Unknown Regions," said Juhani. "That is what is _not_ right about this."

"But it seems fairly clear that a group intervention isn't going to work," said Carth.

"But an individual intervention might," said Juhani.

"No it wouldn't," said Bastila. "But it could stall him…"

"For what?" said Carth.

"Well…" began Bastila. "I _could_ sneak aboard the _Ebon Hawk_ and find out if there's any information in there that could tell me where Revan is going." Carth and Juhani looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "So we can stop him…" she recanted.

"You're out of your mind!" said Carth, slightly raising his voice. "There's no way Revan won't find out!"

"But if you stall…long enough for me to go in, snoop around for a bit, and get back, he might not notice."

"I agree with Carth," said Juhani. "You seem a bit too emotional right now Bastila. Perhaps it is best if…"

"_No_," snapped Bastila. "You're right Juhani, I am being emotional here, but this isn't about me. This is about all of us…as loyal friends and companions stopping Revan from making the biggest mistake of his life. After all…we've agreed that this would be the biggest mistake of his life…right?" Carth and Juhani exchanged glances, and slowly began to agree.

"Do you really think you can do this?" said Carth.

"I'm a Jedi Sentinel," said Bastila with an air of pride. "I know how to be discreet."

"Go then," said Juhani. "We will do what we can to cover for you."

"Thank you," said Bastila, as she stood up and left the room.

Juhani stood up right after her. "You can stall Revan on your own. I will need to go to security and see if I can stall them so Bastila can get in without being noticed."

"Alright," said Carth nodding his head, and Juhani left the room.

* * *

_Somewhere in the Unknown Regions…_

Amicus Trek sat in his office in a low postured sense of frustrated boredom. It had been months – almost a year since his rebellion had done anything remotely exciting. After the successful undercover heist that captured not one, but two Sith shuttles along with the crew of the second, the fleet could do nothing but meander around and continue surveillance of Sith naval activity in the hopes that somewhere along the lines they could get ambushed by a pirate fleet or something and take a little damage.

But no – even the pirates that were notorious for their raids in Tryton and Crispin space were laying low. And Trek had known that he could not intervene even in the slightest or else the Sith would know what he was up to so he had no choice but to simply not get caught. It wasn't easy but it wasn't difficult either.

Trek flashed back to a smiley moment when Clieve Vesta returned with twice what he had been assigned for as well as a living human crew taken prisoner. Trek had never seen anything like that and he was quick to reward him with a small fighter squadron under his command. The human crew were interrogated for information, using the typical brutal and torturous tactics that he was so infamous for and once they had told them all that they knew, they were free to go. Of course that was only what they told them – the reality was that those prisoners were forced out of the ships via airlock and asphyxiated in outer space.

"Sir!" yelled Archie Saww, commander of his flagship the _Hammer of Judgment_ as he stampeded into the room. "We got it."

"Where?"

"Our man had to do a lot of digging – the Sith were trying to keep this one on the down low…dreadnought class vessel called the _Sonic Boom_ took a few more dings than the minimum requirement for repair and is scheduled to leave Azarith in approximately twenty seven hours."

"Why hide this? Was it something petty like pirates?" Archie nodded and Trek continued to think. "_Sonic Boom_…I rather like that name. Now we won't have to change it." That was the go-ahead. Archie Saww left for the bridge while Trek radioed the other commanders to give them the scoop. They were finally going to see some action and accomplish their so desperately needed task.

When the fleet hit hyperspace for the moon of Azarith Trek smiled and began to contemplate the plan for the attack, as well as joyfully anticipate the opportunity he will have to slaughter the Sith and make their human mind-slaves scream in horror.

* * *

"I still think you're being stupid," said Canderous. "Going on this spirit walk, or whatever the hell it is; that's not what I'm protesting. I ought to be by your side out there, just like before."

"I thought you told me on the Star Forge that this was the end of our partnership," said Revan.

"Well that was before I knew you were planning on taking a jog in non-Republic space," countered Canderous. "My people are still living on the edge of the known galaxy. They might be able to help you."

"No I'm pretty sure they can't," said Revan. "I have thought of that you know…"

"Well I can still help you," said Canderous. "My life isn't over yet."

"I'm not denying that you'd be useful," said Revan. "But I know that there was something behind the Mandalorian War."

"Yeah…about that," began Canderous. "Why don't you actually explain your reasoning behind that."

Revan sighed before speaking. "_I do owe him that much,_" he thought. "_He's really not going to like this._"

"Before I do though, let me just turn the question on you. Why do _you_ think the Mandalorians originally went to war?"

"A number of reasons," said Canderous with full confidence and expecting the question. "First, we wanted to test our mettle against a worthy foe and gain the honor in battle that we had failed to gain during the Great Sith War. We chose the Republic and the Jedi just as before, but we gathered the clans in an effort to wage the war ourselves."

"And the second?"

"We wanted to establish a legacy," said Canderous. "Not just as the greatest race of warriors in the history of this galaxy, but as supreme rulers who achieved and maintained power through strength. It seemed like a very idealistic vision to us, but it became so close to a reality during the war, I still wonder if it ever could have been that way."

"Any other reason?" asked Revan.

"Those are really the two main significant ones," replied Canderous. "We wanted to fight the best of the best, and take from them the entire galaxy by force, proving our race supreme by genetic favoritism. That's really it. Knowing me, you don't think that's enough?"

"There are a number of logical flaws in that, which has led me to believe that this wasn't the real reason." Canderous gave Revan an odd look, as if he had just been slapped hard across his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Canderous, somewhat defensively.

"I believe that it was never actually the Mandalorians' choice to go to war. It was something else, and I said this earlier, but I'll explain my theory a little further. You were manipulated, possibly by your own leaders. It was likely an alliance between the Mandalorian higher ups and whatever faction of people they served under."

Canderous' mouth started to gape open. Revan could tell that Canderous was somewhat hurt by this. The Mandalorian stood in shock, as if he had just been told that all his childhood friends hated him and simply kept him around to poke fun at him behind his back.

"I…I don't know what to say Revan, except I think you're crazy," said Canderous. "We _wanted_ this war. We _wanted_ to fight the best of the best. We Mandalore have never been corrupted by anyone in our entire history!"

"But here's the thing Canderous…why now? Why when we were weak? If you really wanted to fight a strong opponent, why did you do it when we were weak?" Canderous raised an eyebrow at Revan. "Of all the times you could have hit us…you chose to do it nine and a half years ago. The Republic had not even recovered from the Great Sith War, and before we knew it…in came you guys, and we barely survived."

"It was our chance," said Canderous, still on the defensive. "Our timing couldn't have been better. C'mon Revan, we _almost _won!"

"But that's the thing," said Revan. "Mandalorians are warriors at heart. You're not rulers; you're not politicians; taking over the galaxy is not what Mandalorians do. They fight, and they seek honor and glory in battle and war. But your people aren't Sith."

"So?"

"Meaning, that even if you _had_ won, it wouldn't have mattered because considering how your people are simply not bred or groomed to control such a chaotic galaxy like this, someone else would have come along and ousted your regime. With the memories that have returned to me, much of it has come with the understanding of your people I developed in the war. I poised this exact same question to myself during, but I don't know if I actually acted upon it." This was another terrible lie by Revan, and he wondered if Canderous would catch on, but the middle aged Mandalorian looked to be reeling state of confusion and a mild form of rage.

"I…" Revan stopped Canderous from speaking further, with the hint that his point would be made clearer soon enough. Canderous took the hint and Revan went on.

"It seems to me that the Mandalorians were pushed into this war, or convinced by other means to weaken the Republic, not to destroy it." Revan looked into the Mandalorian's eyes. "If your people really wanted to face us at our best they would have waited until we had recovered. As well as that, your people were perfectly content fighting on as you had for years. Then suddenly you decide to take over the galaxy? It makes no logical sense!" Revan paused for the moment, but Canderous still did not interrupt, expecting to hear more. "Maybe Canderous…maybe whoever drove your people to war with the Republic _wanted_ you to lose. Perhaps they saw you as a possible threat to their own plans and used you to weaken the Republic, and eliminate your people as an obstacle at the same time. And honestly, if it was really the choice of your people to wage a war against the Republic in the hopes of winning and taking over the galaxy, then your people seriously miscalculated."

"About _you _I assume you mean…right?" replied Canderous, and Revan nodded. "It's true that we had never heard of you or Malak before. We were counting on this Jedi named Kavar to lead the Jedi to war against us; not you."

"And yet, in came Malak and I, and it cost you the war."

"Yeah," said Canderous. "And I have no grudges. You beat us at our own game fair and square."

"But Canderous," replied Revan. "Mandalorians are _way_ too smart to make such a dire miscalculation. That's why I truly believe that this was never really _your_ war to begin with. Did you not ever once question the true intentions behind this war?"

"Sure, I did," said Canderous. "At the beginning though…Mandalore was charismatically inspirational, just like you. I asked myself hundreds of times if this war was really worth the casualty cost, and if we could really win. And then as the war progressed, I slowly began to figure…what does it matter? What difference does it make? We're already in, we were in it to win, and we were winning. So I stopped caring about the idea of Mandalorians winning or losing, or the idea that we could control the galaxy. It was nice to think about every once in a while, but I just focused on myself."

"So you don't believe me?" asked Revan.

"No," said Canderous rather boldly. "I don't believe you in your assessment that we were coerced and made into puppets for some larger scheme; not for a second. But it doesn't even matter."

"Why not?"

"Because that's in the past, and no matter what, we Mandalorians have left behind a legacy that this galaxy shall never forget. Whatever agenda Mandalore himself had for this galaxy, is irrelevant. He's dead. I myself wanted to fight for the honor and the glory of Mandalorian victory, which is why I went to war with the rest of them, and even though we lost the war, I think I found myself there; and that's why I'm still not ready to give up this life of fighting."

"Well I'm glad you aren't," said Revan. "But I believe that the past actually _does_ matter, and I am absolutely convinced that there was something else behind the war; and that's why I have to go, and I can't ask you to come along. Aside from the droids, I can't take _anyone_." Revan wondered how difficult it would be to convince Canderous of this after all of this, but Canderous seemed rather indifferent at the moment.

"I never said you had to ask," retorted Canderous. "I'd follow you anywhere, especially if it concerns _my_ people. You know that."

"I know. But it's not just you. I can't take _anyone_ with me. It would just put them in unnecessary danger."

"You can't seriously be worried about that," said Canderous. "C'mon Revan, I'm not dead weight…you know I have my uses. I won't slow you down, and how many times have we saved each other's life?"

"Over 9000 times, but that's not what this is about."

"What do you want from me then!" asserted Canderous.

Revan stopped and took a look around to where they were. They had been walking through the entertainment promenade. In front of them was the entrance to the Cantina. They had walked quite a distance from the conference rooms and had taken the monorail away from there. Revan had not forgotten about the brilliant idea that had suddenly come to him while in the conference room and he could not have been more anxious to tell Canderous about it. Getting there was the hard part. His excitement and slight nervousness of it provided somewhat of a mental shield to the turbulence and troubled whirlpool of pain that had been eating away at him with every lie he issued to his friends.

He beckoned Canderous to follow him in. Inside, they found a private booth, away from the eyes and ears of the common folk.

"There is something else I need you to do," mumbled Revan, in a quiet and rather shady tone of voice that Canderous was barely able to decipher. "This is something that only you can do, and it's very important and necessary that you do this."

Canderous stared at Revan with a stumped look on his face. "What?" he finally said.

"When does the next session of boot camp end?"

"Nine weeks or so, why?"

"I want you to stay on with the Republic for this session…and then I want you to leave."

"And do what?"

Revan sighed. "_He's going to think I've lost my mind,_" thought Revan. "_I just hope I have the stomach to ask him to do this…C'mon Revan. Just like before…say it!_"

"Do_ what!_" said Canderous louder and Revan sighed again, hinting him to silence his voice and not attract attention.

Without any more hesitation, Revan spoke. "It is time that the Mandalorians regrouped and reassembled, this time as an ally of the Republic and the Jedi, and under new leadership…a new banner."

Canderous was baffled by Revan's statement, and he had no idea what to say, even though he had to ask. "Whose banner?"

"Yours," whispered Revan while still staring straight into his steel eyes.

Canderous leaned back and hit the wall behind him in shock and looked at Revan trying to figure out if he was actually serious. "Wh…_what!_" he said finally.

"You heard me."

"You're serious…"

"Yeah," retorted Revan in the most serious tone of voice he could use. This had been his idea that had come to him when Canderous mentioned that he needed a real reason not to join him. A group of Mandalorians allied under the leadership of a friend would prove to be highly advantageous tactically and strategically, and Revan knew it.

"C'mon," said Canderous. "You better not be joking about this."

"I want you to gather the clans and do everything in your power to restore the lost Mandalorian strength. Find your people, gather them together and make them ready for war. I need an army Canderous…and I want _you_ to lead it." He let this assignment sink into Canderous' head. For a few seconds, they said nothing but merely exchanged looks.

"Even if I wanted to," said Canderous, finally coming to terms with what Revan was asking of him. "You took Mandalore the Ultimate's helmet after the war and denied it to us. Even though it is possible to create a new helmet; I could never claim the title of Mandalore without the real thing. The tradition is ingrained in my blood…"

"You'll find the helmet on Rakata Prime," interrupted Revan.

"That Star Forge world…" Revan nodded. "Ugh, damn it. I was relieved when we got off that rock, and now you want me to go back." Revan nodded again. "So…you want _me_ to become the new Mandalore?"

"Yes," said Revan. "You're the only one who can do it, and I want you to be ready for anything."

"You want me to gather the clans and then just wait around?"

"Partially," said Revan. "Your main objective is to be ready for my return, but as you gain strength in numbers and loyalty, I want you and your kind to serve as an invisible shield for the Republic."

"How so?"

"There are a number of covert camps scattered throughout Dxun," said Revan. "Right?"

"Yeah."

"If I remember correctly, Mandalorians have a rapport with the jungle. Take them there, and watch over Onderon…and obviously don't tell the Republic what you're doing."

"Onderonians aren't exactly fond of us, considering what we did to them in the war."

"As I said," belayed Revan. "_Invisible _shield…I need you to make sure that Onderon stays with the Republic and stays strong militarily and economically. Onderon is a beacon of civilization and Republic strength. If that world falls, countless others will fall like dominoes."

Canderous thought for a moment and recognized the intelligence and wisdom in Revan's analysis. For several seconds he merely pondered to himself. What Revan was asking of him was next to impossible, even after telling him where to find the helmet, and yet the very idea of it made it look all the better. "_I can't believe I'm about to say yes to this…_" Canderous thought.

"Do we have a deal?" asked Revan.

Canderous looked back at Revan with a nod. "Alright, I'll do it," he finally said. "But only for you." Revan smiled.

"Thank you Canderous," said Revan. "Just one thing however; before you do this, I want you to formally retire from your post with the Republic. I want you to gather the other drill instructors under you and find a good replacement. Make sure that your position is left in good hands."

"Right," said Canderous.

The two of them left the table after laying their money down and began walking out of the bar. As they left, Revan remembered one more thing.

"Oh by the way…also keep this between us," said Revan. "When the others ask you what my instructions were, tell them I want you to retire from the Republic and find someone to settle down with."

"A girl?" said Canderous who was smiling slightly.

"No, a choir boy," said Revan sarcastically. "Yes, of course I mean a girl!"

"Ha ha ha," growled Canderous, who did not find it very funny. "Fine, whatever."

"I understand," said Revan. "Did you have anyone special during or before the war?"

"I did," said Canderous, with a hint of regret behind his words. "She's gone though."

"Well…I'm sure you'll figure something out. Just _don't_ tell them the truth. They'd never approve."

"No kidding," said Canderous. "But this is your last chance. Are you _absolutely sure_ you want me to do this instead of coming with you?" Revan smiled, nonverbally indicating the answer as he reached out his hand.

"What's the code of the Mandalore?"

"Honor in battle, cheating death, comrades in arms." They smiled and shook hands, leading into a masculine embrace as if they were best friends since childhood.

"Safe journey…Mandalore," whispered Revan into Canderous' ear as they drew apart and turned away, going their separate ways. Revan left the cantina and went back to Republic Headquarters.

"_One down, three to go_," he thought as he made his way back up to the same conference room he left from. He entered the room but was surprised to see that no one was present. Revan scanned the room and walked further in, but a strange feeling got to him. As he turned around, he saw Carth close the door behind him. Revan gave him an odd look.

"Let's take a seat, shall we?" said Carth. Revan's stare into Carth's eyes did not falter, but when he saw the seriousness in his face, he simply obliged without question. "What the hell do you think you're doing Revan?"

"I told you Carth," he replied. "I have to do this. I don't have another choice."

"You _always_ have a choice."

"What is this…some kind of one man intervention?" mused Revan.

"I just want a straight answer. That's all."

"I already told you why I have to leave," said Revan. "You said you trusted me."

"I know what I said," retorted Carth in a highly serious tone. "But I want to know why you're choosing to go alone. I mean if you're planning to go into the black of space, beyond the edge of the known galaxy, to find and possibly fight something you know nothing about, why the hell wouldn't you take at least some of our crew like before?" Revan sighed.

"Yeah, I guess I owe you an explanation." Revan did not like where this was going to go, as he was basically setting himself up to lie again.

This line seemed particularly useful for both cases, as it allowed Revan to take control of the conversation instead of letting his friends run rampant in their protest. Lying and deceiving them was still getting easier and easier and Revan felt no better. Each time he did it, he questioned to himself if lying to his friends was really the right thing to do, but every time, Lena's words flashed before his mind. _"It will only put them in danger,"_ she had said. _"Just relax and think about it. I'm sure that you in your renowned ability to persuade will find a way."_ These words provided a bit of comfort for Revan, but the mere depth of deception seemed more and more like a big hole that he kept digging himself into and could not escape from.

"I'm all ears," said Carth, with the hopes that Revan would take a nice long time dishing out an explanation so Bastila would have more time.

"I have to go alone because it is too dangerous a mission to bring anyone with me…especially those I care about. But that's not all. I know that if I asked, you guys would probably follow me there. The truth is…I have a much more important assignment for you." Revan felt very redundant at the moment, but this idea was different and one that Revan had actually thought through fully before arriving on Telos.

"And what would that be?" asked Carth.

"I need you, to do all that is in your power to rebuild the Republic and keep it strong militarily. It must be fortified, and ready for another war, one that is brewing in the distant future."

"Well, I was going to help rebuild it anyway," said Carth who was now thinking to himself, "_Where the hell is Bastila!_"

"I don't think you understand," said Revan. "I need you to work _tirelessly_. The Republic must be preserved and it must be strong enough to last. This is of critical importance; it is _the_ most important task of all, and I trust no one to do this but you." Carth gave Revan an odd look.

"I'm not sure I understand. Is there anything _specific_ you need me to do?" asked Carth. "I mean, it's not like I can just ascend the ranks on a whim and take command of the whole Republic armed forces in a matter of days."

"I know," said Revan understandingly. "The Republic leaned on the Jedi like a crutch during the Mandalorian War. We can't afford that again. I hope that you do reach the rank of Admiral, because the Republic needs you. It will need strong and effective leadership, and it will need to be made strong for what is to come. There might be another war coming. If the Republic is caught with its pants down, all hell will break loose, and this galaxy will be helpless."

"A war against who?" asked Carth.

"I don't know," said Revan. "I wish I could tell you more, but as I said, I don't know anything more. But I do need you to do this, not just for me, but for the Republic's sake." Carth sighed while Revan mentally kicked himself with the repetition of that same stupid lie he kept using.

"So you want me to make the Republic strong enough to stand on its own _without_ the Jedi?" Revan nodded. "You do realize that what you're asking me is next to impossible…right?"

"You don't think you can do this?"

"I can make the military wing of the Republic strong," said Carth. "But Revan, the Republic is not just weak militarily. And I don't believe it's possible for the Republic to function properly without the Jedi. They've been the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy for hundreds of generations. A Democratic-Republic _needs_ guardians in order to survive. C'mon haven't you read your ancient political philosophy?"

"I'm not a political person Carth," said Revan. "You know that. But I'm sure the Jedi will always be there, at least to help you out. I just want you to make the Republic able enough to survive without them."

Carth sighed. "And what? You just want me to make the Republic ready for war, and then just wait for your return? You don't ever want me to look for you?"

Revan shook his head. "Absolutely not," he said in a tone so stern, he felt like Lena. "Don't forget your history. The Great Hyperspace War was started because a single ship…Starbreaker 12, was screwing around trying to find its bearings in an unfamiliar place. We don't want to repeat anything like that if we can help it."

"Not to undermine your little history lesson, but isn't that what you're about to do?" said Carth. "You're about to take the _Ebon Hawk_ and start screwing around in the Unknown Regions."

"Just trust me on this Carth; _don't_ look for me."

"Fine Revan, I won't. I'm just a little confounded by all this. You haven't given me much to go on, and you may never return to us."

"I know," grunted Revan empathetically. "You need to let me do this. I _will_ return. That's a promise. Just make sure the Republic is strong and prepared." The tone of voice was exactly the same as before with the sternness he seemed to have picked up from Lena, but all the more kind at the same time.

Carth sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get anything else out of him. "Alright Revan," he said. "I will work endlessly and tirelessly and do all in my power to help the Republic and prepare it for…whatever; militarily and politically if I can."

"Just do what you can," said Revan. "If you have any allies and friends in the Senate, now would be the perfect time to use them. Make more friends in the Senate if you have to, but you'll need their support. Keep the military presence strong at Muunilinst, Onderon, Alderaan, and Coruscant. Most importantly, don't let Telos get destroyed again."

"You don't have to tell me that," said Carth. "I'll die before I let that happen."

"I know, but those five planets are absolutely critical. How you do this is completely up to you, but that's my advice."

"I understand," said Carth. Revan stood up from his chair but Carth stopped him again, with the hopes of stalling him further, as Bastila had still not returned. "Hold on a second Revan…"

Revan turned around. "Yeah?"

"How are you planning on getting out of here?"

"Sneak out…"

"You're kidding," said Carth.

"No, I'm not," growled Revan. "I have to leave ASAP. I can't afford to linger around."

"Wait a minute," said Carth. "I've been getting grilled by Admiral Dodonna to get you to come in and give an official debrief on the Star Forge mission. If you just leave without doing this, I'm going to get grilled even more, and the Republic will get suspicious."

"Alright," said Revan. "So what do you propose?"

"_This is good,_" thought Carth. "_I can't believe Bastila is taking this long, but I can stall._"

"Well?" asked Revan.

"Here," said Carth, pulling out some papers from his binder. "Let's draft a plan to get you out of here as fast as possible without this happening. After all, I can't be of much use to you if the Republic throws me in the stockades for facilitating your escape."

_

* * *

Meanwhile on Rakata Prime…_

It had been all quiet on all fronts on the outskirts of the Red Settlement. The rising sun was beginning to glare brightly over the beaches and the wild animals were waking up and going about their day in full compliance and harmony with the forces of nature. The situation inside the home of the late Elder Rakata tribe however, was not so peaceful.

The wall between one bedroom and another suddenly came down when Darth Sion was sent crashing straight through it by the power of Jolee's Force blast. Jolee hopped through the newly formed gap and pressed his attack. Sion had already jumped to his feet and began to hold his own against Jolee. Jolee was using Form V Djem So and unleashed a massive flurry of blows all over Sion, with the intent on keeping him pressed and incapable of attacking. Sion switched to the same stance and was backing up slowly around the room, blocking and dodging the blows aimed at him.

The fight had been going on for a long time, leaving ruins in the hallways and rooms they fought through, but not once had either of them taken the fight outside the house. All senses of Jolee were telling him that Sion was merely toying with him in an effort to drain his energy, and that it would be futile to continuously engage him. However Sion's aggression when on the offensive had forced him to do just that.

Jolee continuously aimed strikes at Sion who was grinning somewhat sheepishly while blocking and dodging them with relative ease. Sion side kicked Jolee in the chest and sent him backward, but Jolee came at him again. As he aimed a vertical swing, Sion grabbed Jolee's left arm and swung him into the wall. Then he grabbed him again and launched him across the hallway, sending him crashing through an insulated wall. Jolee reeled at the slight concussion, but shook it off. Sion was slowly pacing towards him, but now Jolee was in an area of possible advantage.

As he looked around the room, he saw that he was just barely outside of an electric field. The main power generator for the Red Settlement was stationed in the center and the energy it was releasing buzzed around the room and through the open areas above the walls, giving power for lights, air conditioning, water, and other appliances the Elders lived on.

Despite the concussion, Jolee quickly gave himself an idea. Sion was now through the gap in the wall he had thrown Jolee through, but Jolee did not give him time to mount another attack.

Jolee hurled his lightsaber straight at Sion, which caught him off guard. Sion attempted to limbo dodge it and the fast spinning lightsaber brushed over his face, adding a few more scars to his already disfigured nose. Jolee then unleashed a storm of lightning into the air that merged and fused with the electricity of the room. The electricity mingled with the generator and sparks flew everywhere. With the power of Jolee's lightning, the generator began to overload. Jolee used the Force to tear a hole in the ceiling, and then leapt straight up through it, summoning the lightsaber back to him.

Sion was still moving towards Jolee to chase him down, but Jolee leapt off the roof of the building and onto the sands of the beach. As he landed in the sands, he began moving away from the shelter as fast as he could; diving straight forward into the sand as it blew.

The Red Settlement exploded into a massive fiery blaze that left only ashes and ruin on the sands of the South Beach. Jolee got back up and dusted the sand off his shirtless body, his head ringing from the concussion of the blast. His own wounds and scars from the recent battle, compiled with his own physical and mental exhaustion was enough to keep his mind off the horrors he had just witnessed and remembered, but now that it was all over, they all seemed to rush back towards the front and fill his mind all at once. It was overwhelming, and as a result, Jolee felt himself sink down to his knees.

Fighting Sion was adrenalizing enough, but Sion had been a part of his history he had hoped to forget. Jolee had no belief that fighting the Great Sith War was glorifying. He had suffered as much as all the other Jedi who had their padawans turn on them. He had lost everything; his friends, his wife, the Jedi Order, and when he finally found another lifestyle that made him happy, it was taken from him. The depression of it was absolutely mortifying, and the only possible comfort Jolee had was that the other crew members of the _Ebon Hawk_ were safe and that his old friend Sunry escaped the wrath of the Selkath justice system on Manaan, but even he was nowhere to be found.

Jolee had no idea what to do at the moment, and aside from the emotions and vivid memories of his nightmarish past, several questions filled his head; namely concerning what to do, who to warn about this so called "Great Jedi Purge", how this happened, where the Sith came from, who were the members of the "Sith Triumvirate", and many others.

But the horrors and confusion blocks were suddenly washed away in an instant as Jolee's blood turned to ice once again. Looking at the rising ashes of the Red Settlement, a dark shadowy figure was slowly walking through the fire, his boots clanking over the large chunks of wood and rubble. It was Darth Sion, in the flesh, his skin was just as much the charcoal gray color as it was before, and the cracks and fractures in his skin were also all just the same. He exited the building like a hellish demonic figure, absolved and untouched by the fire.

Jolee was tempted to gasp, but his senses took over and the Force re-energized him instantly. He had not expected this, but somehow he was not surprised either. He had killed Sion once, and he had killed Sion again, but Jolee knew that he could find a way to put him down for good. All it would take was time; and Jolee was now ready.

Sion came forward and without uttering a word reactivated his lightsaber with a snap-hiss motion, which Jolee replied to him with the exact same gesture.

* * *

_Meanwhile, inside the Ebon Hawk…_

For the past hour, Bastila was rummaging through the cargo bay, going through every storage locker, canister, and supply compartment like a starved looter, desperately trying to find some piece of evidence as to Revan's intentions.

Bastila had initially attempted to scan the ship through her Force senses, but something seemed to be blocking her senses, and preventing her from seeing the ship through the Force. It had taken some time to figure it out, but Bastila recognized it as the same all powerful source emanating from a person, that she had sensed on Coruscant when she was tapping into her bond to find him. This perplexed her very much, but Lena had taken precautions. She was safely hidden under the floor boards in the cargo bay; floor boards that Bastila did not even know about, and therefore Bastila had no idea that she was walking over her all the time.

Though Lena was somewhat squashed inside the floor, she was somehow relaxed and deeply enjoying the experience. "_This is kind of fun,_" she told herself without speaking.

After tearing the entire cargo bay apart and coming up with nothing, Bastila quickly began to put everything back the way she found them as to not arouse suspicion. She fixed up the main compartments and storage lockers, but then had another epiphany.

"Davik's secret compartment!" she said out loud. She ran over to the other side of the cargo hold to what appeared to be a wall. She opened the panel and typed in the code "Red-47" and the compartment opened. Yet unfortunately for her, there was nothing inside. "_Blast!_" said Bastila softly yet forcefully.

It was clear that the cargo bay had nothing she needed. Bastila had checked the cockpit, the medical room, and now the cargo bay. Bastila looked at her watch.

"Oh no!" she whispered to herself. "_I've lingered here too long…I need to get out before someone else finds me_," she thought, but then another thought came to her. She remembered walking past the droids who were shut down in the engine room. Perhaps there was another way to make him stay, or return early. Or perhaps there was a way for him to go, but his safety guaranteed. Neither of these seemed viable at all, but Bastila was desperate. The thought of Revan leaving was still heartbreaking, but even worse was the thought of him never coming back at all.

Bastila ran into the room and approached T3-M4 and HK-47. She began tinkering with T3-M4's circuitry in an effort to wake him up. The droid suddenly began beeping and chirping with joy and excitement having seen Bastila again, but Bastila put her finger up in front of her mouth.

"_Shhh!_" she whispered. "T3, I've been here too long and I cannot stay any longer. Before I go, I have a message for you. Does your recorder still work?" T3-M4 happily chirped in confirmation. "Good. Start recording as soon as you can." T3-M4 beeped again.

"_I better make this a good message…I don't have time for re-records,_" she thought as she saw T3-M4's red light turned on, hinting that his recorder was now recording.

T3-M4 beeped once again in confirmation and Bastila began.

"_T3, you have been with us since Taris. Without you we would never have escaped that place…and for that, I thank you. I'm leaving this message inside you because I have seen glimpses of the future…and the bond we share does not allow him to hide everything from me. More of his memories have returned…and they trouble him. _

_He has remembered something, something on the edge of the galaxy, and he believes that he must go there to end it. But I'm afraid for him…afraid that he may not return. I fear that he is blindly and dangerously digging into his past and may forget about those who care for him. Even more-so, I fear for his safety. I fear my efforts to stop him have been a waste of time, for he is determined to do this. I will speak to him one more time, but if this does not hold, then I will need your help._

_I cannot put a tracking device on you or the ship, because he'll know if I did; I can't stow myself aboard because of my other duties, and I can't ask you to relay messages back to me about your progress, for he would surely find out. All I have is our bond, and I'll never let that go, but his actions are causing us to slowly drift apart. And I cannot bear that. That is why I need you to do something just as important as the quest itself._

_I need you to be the beacon T3. If he is lost out there, on the edge of the galaxy; if he finds what terrible thing he has seen, then he may not survive. If he doesn't make it back, then I need you to return to the Republic, find help. Seek me out. If you cannot find me, then seek out other Jedi, the Republic, Mission…anyone who can be of help._

_Keep this message hidden as deeply inside your memory banks as you can, and only show it to someone if you know you can trust them. Most importantly, do NOT show this to him. I hope you understand T3, that you are the only one I can trust._

_I can't lose him, even if he believes he is protecting me._" Bastila nodded, indicating to T3-M4 that she was finished.

Bastila waited until confirmation that the droid had safely locked the recording into its memory banks. She gently kissed the top of T3-M4's metal head and then shut it down. She closed the engine room door, leaving it precisely where it had been before and began scurrying quietly back to the loading ramp.

But in exfiltration of the _Ebon Hawk_, Bastila stopped dead in her tracks, for someone stood right there as if waiting for her; a man she knew all too well. With a gasp of surprise, Bastila muttered one word under her breath.

_"Revan..."

* * *

_

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	13. Chapter 12: The Long Goodbye

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black  
**

**

* * *

Chapter 12**

**The Long Goodbye

* * *

**

Revan and Bastila stared at each other for what seemed like ages for both of them. Bastila's gray eyes met Revan's cyan eyes, and they both became deeply immersed in their own emotions and thoughts. They were now in private for the first time in ten months, and neither of them believed they could break the uncomfortable silence between them.

To any outsider, Bastila looked exactly the same as she always had. Her brown hair was well banded behind her in multiple donuts and the three thin streaks of hair drooped down at the sides of her face, but not covering her ears. As always, she wore the most ridiculous outfit which Revan had often mocked during the Star Forge quest. The yellow and brown suit she wore that stretched all the way to her wrists, boots, and up to her neck. Her double bladed yellow lightsaber hung beside her at the belt.

But Revan saw something different. He noticed Bastila's flushed face, and for some inexplicable reason, her appearance more beautiful to him than the glow of Hasaq's Sun. He didn't know if she had made herself look beautiful intentionally for him, or if it was merely the thought of seeing her and being alone with her again that made her so irresistible to him. But despite the beauty of Bastila's form, Revan began to feel his nerves rattle a bit, as the uncomfortable silence continued.

"_This could not be more awkward…_" thought Revan. "_Shit! Lena is in the cargo hold floor…_" He quickly pressed the red button to his left and the ramp closed behind him. He walked right past Bastila without uttering a word, toward the Starboard Dormitory which was located on almost the opposite side of the _Ebon Hawk_ from the cargo hold. Bastila simply followed, hoping to get him to speak first and break the pause.

After finally summing up the courage, Revan spoke. "Okay, here's where I'm a little fuzzy." Bastila looked him oddly, but he continued. "Juhani was acting very strangely…stranger than usual. I got the feeling she was stalling me, so I went off to find you. And here you are. So what the hell are you doing on my ship?" There was no emotion in his voice at all at this point, for he had no idea what Bastila's reaction would be.

"Revan why are you doing this!" blurted Bastila. "Why are you leaving us…why are you leaving _me!_"

"My reasons haven't changed since about an hour ago," said Revan. "And don't turn this on me. Let's keep this with you. What are you doing?"

"I…" Bastila felt the urge to lie, but she knew that this was utterly hopeless. She was on the verge of tears, and she felt like she was about to explode. "I just…" she stammered, and then took a deep sigh. "I'm trying to stop you."

"By asking Carth and Juhani to stall, so you can poke around in my ship?" said Revan. "What are you looking for anyway?"

"I don't know!" yelled Bastila defensively. "Anything! _Anything_ to get you to change your mind and not leave!"

"So did you find anything?" said Revan. At this moment, he was more serious than ever. His emotions were locked at the back of his head, and he just wanted this to be over with before they were let out. Bastila had that ability without even realizing it, and it seemed like the worst possible outcome at the moment. Additionally, he was concerned that Lena did something stupid to reveal herself.

Bastila sighed. "No," she said. "I didn't find anything, but this changes nothing!"

"What would have changed if you did find something?" asked Revan with a curious expression.

"Revan I can't take this anymore!" she cried. "I don't want you to leave! I need you! I'm nothing without you! I _love_ you!" Revan's mouth opened slightly ajar as he saw tears descend from Bastila's tender and innocent gray eyes.

"But," he interjected. "Our last conversation…you were doing fine!"

"It was an act, Revan!" she cried. "It was all an act! I was a wreck without you!" Bastila paused for a moment as Revan continued to blankly stare at her. "And now you're leaving again…Revan my heart just can't take it!"

"But…" repeated Revan. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you lie?"

"It wouldn't have been fair to you," she sobbed. "You were off training with that skunk-bag Lena and I couldn't ask you to come back."

"You didn't think I would have?" said Revan with a furrowed brow. "What'd you think? That I was going to train with her forever?"

"I didn't know _what_ to think!" said Bastila, speaking much faster than usual. "I practically _couldn't_ think! I'm babbling...blurting out sentences before organizing them...I'm really hurting right now. And also you yourself seemed fine too! I didn't know what to do!"

Revan closed his eyes and deeply sighed. He then opened them as he spoke. "If you think that I didn't miss you or think about you during those ten months, then you're quite mistaken. I thought about you every day, and I never stopped loving you…not even for a second."

"Then don't do this to us!" cried Bastila. "Revan, just come away with me. I don't care if we have to live a lie. I just want to be with you."

At this point, Revan was also on the verge of breaking into tears. He could no longer hold back his emotions, as he felt Bastila's pain and agony through their bond, and it tore him apart. He couldn't block it out anymore. "I…I have to do this!"

"No you don't!" screamed Bastila.

That last statement from Bastila was echoing in his head, and it was so strong that it made him question everything again. His mind flashed back to the dream he had shortly after meeting Lena, and one major vivid picture stood in front of everything: Bastila getting struck in the back by a sword, and hitting the ground with a thud. In her last breaths, she wept and cried out for Revan, sticking her hand out towards him, and Revan remembered the pain he felt from seeing this, even in the vision; the pain of seeing the love of his life die and being powerless to stop it.

"Bastila…" Revan shed a single tear, but he closed his eyes to hide it.

"Don't _Bastila _me!" she snapped. "Revan you're breaking my heart! What do you want from me?"

"I just want you to be safe," said Revan with more tears dripping from his face. Bastila could say nothing, for she was still in complete despair. "I never wanted any of this…but there is a threat in the Unknown Regions, and I have to fight it. I've seen glimpses of the future…and if I don't go off to fight it, all of you will die. That is a fact!"

"I don't believe you!" she blurted.

"Search your feelings my love," whispered Revan in the midst wiping his tears. "Look into my mind with the bond we share. You know I am telling the truth."

"I…" said Bastila, as Revan walked over and gently grasped her hand with his own. Bastila did nothing but shed more tears, but Revan puckered her chin and stared into her eyes again.

"You already have…" said Revan. "Haven't you?"

Bastila nodded and pulled herself into his arms. "Yes…" she said. They held each other and a spark of bliss slowly dried up their tears. "I just didn't want to believe it."

"Then you know why I have to leave," whispered Revan in a soothing voice.

"No!" cried Bastila again as she pulled away. "Revan; forget this…all of it! If there is a threat out there against us, don't go and fight it. Run away! Take me with you and leave everything else behind! I don't care if we have to leave the Order. I just want to be with you…no matter what!"

"It's all I want. Believe me," said Revan. "But it's much more complicated and I couldn't make you understand, because I myself don't even understand it. But it's out there, and that's why I have to go. As long as I stay, I am powerless to stop it."

"Revan please," said Bastila with another tear falling from her left duct. "Don't do this. I can't live like this. I just…"

Before Bastila could say any more, Revan grabbed her hand and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Their lips met and the tears on the cheeks of both began to dry and disappear. They could feel each other's thoughts and emotions, as the bond they shared began to manifest.

A blissful feeling aroused the senses of the two lovers as they continued kissing. No longer did they feel fear, guilt, or embarrassment. The hidden flushes on their faces ceased to exist. Their hearts raced, and yet they beat as one. Their minds were linked, both knowing and understanding the other in full, and any doubts about the love they had for one another, or whether the love was returned were dispelled. It was no longer simply the Force at work. It was love; blissful, humane, and nevermore righteous love.

Revan and Bastila slowly began to fall into bed together, not for the sex or the eager removal of their virginity, but for the demonstration and the physical creation of the love they knew and shared. At long last, they were happy; happier than they had ever been before…until thirty seconds later.

"_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_" Bastila was moments away from slipping off her garments, when her communicator began to violently shake. "_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_" it screeched.

"Don't answer it," said Revan as he kissed her neck and sensually gnawed on her shoulder.

"Ugh," said Bastila in a tone of immense frustration. "It's Vrook! Curse that abominable excuse for a human being!"

Revan slowly began to unzip the back of Bastila's suit. "_Don't_ answer it," he repeated, as he kissed her lips again, but Bastila pulled away.

"I have to," said Bastila. "He has suspected our love. If I don't answer, he'll get worried." Bastila paused for a moment and then withdrew the communicator from her belt as it continued to shake and beep in a more annoying fashion than T3-M4's personality quirks. "Shhh…give me a moment." Bastila left the Starboard Dormitory, leaving Revan shirtless and equally frustrated. "Yes?" said Bastila through the communicator, which was the only thing Revan heard.

"_Damn it!_" thought Revan as he scowled. "_Even after rising above the Force, I still can't be happy. What is wrong with me!_" He slowly began to put his shirt back on and fix his hair in the mirror.

Bastila walked back to the dormitory and when they looked at each other again, Revan already knew what Bastila was about to say. "I have to leave," she said. "Master Vrook and the rest of the council need Juhani and I back there at once."

"Emergency?"

"He didn't say. He just needs us back. I can't delay, or he'll suspect even more."

"Yeah," said Revan quietly. "I understand. I just…wanted this moment to be perfect…for both of us."

Bastila walked over to Revan and brushed his cheek with the inside of her slightly sweaty palm. "It was," she said. "And it isn't your fault."

"It wasn't perfect enough for me," said Revan as he grasped her hand again and kissed her knuckles. "I love you with all my heart, and I want to be with you forever. I want to marry you, start a family with you, and just retire from all of this but…I still have to go." Bastila began quietly weeping again and Revan pulled her into a gentle embrace. Though she didn't realize it at first, Revan was also in a slightly tearful state. "I'm so sorry."

"Is this our final goodbye?" asked Bastila, fearing the answer.

"No," said Revan boldly as he pulled away. "It can't be. It won't be. We will be together again."

"Promise me Revan," said Bastila. "Promise me, that no matter what…you'll pull through. No matter what, you will return and find me."

Revan nodded. "I promise. But Bastila I too need you to do something for me. First of all, I need you to understand that I'm doing this…all of it…for you. I love you; I always will, no matter what. And I know you feel the same way." Bastila nodded but said nothing. "That's why I want you to remain a Jedi."

Bastila gave Revan an odd look. "But…" she stuttered. "They forbid our love."

"And they are wrong to do so," said Revan. "You know that just as much as I. But do not mistake my meaning. I want you to remain a Jedi…even if it means leaving the Order. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I just want you to be prepared for anything; and follow your instincts, and you will become an even greater Jedi than the masters of the council."

"I…I understand," said Bastila compassionately and with a deep sigh.

Revan smiled. "And whatever you do, my princess; do _not_ follow me into the Unknown Regions." Bastila blushed and giggled slightly.

"My father called me princess," she said with a smile.

"I know he did." He leaned in and kissed her once again; a gentle kiss which their hearts understood would not be their final.

"I love you," said Bastila again. "You are my shining star, and I will wait for you...for as long as it takes. I promise."

He never got tired of hearing that from her, nor did she from him; and they knew that they never would as long as they drew breath. The love they shared was worth fighting and dying for, even if the life they led was a constant struggle. Revan led the way out of the Starboard Dormitory and down the ramp of the _Ebon Hawk_. He let go of her hand as soon as he stepped out, and they casually walked to the monorail.

"Be safe, my love," he whispered to her, casually enough so that no one around could hear it.

"I am not saying goodbye. Farewell until we meet again," she whispered back into his ear.

Bastila got on board, and as she turned to face him, the doors began to close. As Bastila placed her hand on the glass window of the door, Revan simply nodded his head just as she had before. The monorail sped Bastila away, leaving Revan already feeling worlds apart from the woman he loved.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"_I'm not so sure if that's true Zeno, but why exactly do you think that's the case?_"

"_Because she's always been a fairly free spirited individual, but from a basic political standpoint, her switching of parties makes total sense. It helps her get re-elected, and it__'__s much better for a politician to be a swing vote among the majority than in the minority._"

"_But that's not to say that she could not simply switch back once the pendulum swings back to the conservatives again...right? But also, by becoming a liberal, her positions on any key issue will drastically change, am I right?_"

"_If you're referring to her stance on labor unions, I think it's possible. Yes._"

"_Actually Zeno, if I could just cut in on this, it's not possible. Senator Spectra Arlen will never change her views from pro-business to pro-labor union. Her political ties to the IG Banking Clan are strong enough to keep her campaigns from running dry, but if she changed her position, all that support would be washed away in a flash, and Muunilinst would have a new representative come next year._"

"_Really Lausherra? You think that by switching from the Conservative Party to the Liberal Party she won't be forced to change her views on that issue? You don__'t think that the political pressure from other liberals will make her to change her mind and hop on the liberal bandwagon?_"

"_That is a loaded question, to which I ask another. Who's going to force her? The only people she technically answers to are her constituents on Muunilinst. Muunilinst has statistically been rated as the most business friendly planet in the Republic for the last several hundred years. Arlen knows that, and that's why labor strikes on that world never succeed. From a politicians' perspective, it would be foolish to support them on a planet like that._"

"_I've got to agree with you on that Lausherra. Muunilinst is a galactic model of the success of free market economics. Labor unions are in a vast minority. All the stats show that not only does it have the longest steadily growing Gross Domestic Product rate in the Republic, but every single Human Development Index survey has reported that ninety two percent of all citizens approve of their lifestyles and are comfortable with their financial situations. Pretty impressive, if you ask me._"

"_Well anyway, we're driving away from the main issue here, so as the anchor of this segment, I'd like to direct us back to the main point. Thank you, both of you, for contributing to this discussion. Senator Spectra Arlen of Muunilinst has recently announced her intention to switch parties, giving the already divided Senate one more member of the liberal majority. The Liberal Party is now two votes away from reaching the required sixty percent majority needed to break the conservative filibuster. As a result, the Conservative Party is still a formidable force in the Senate at this point and they are desperate to hold onto their Malastare incumbent who is facing a touch struggle to keep his seat. We'll have more for you on that later. Hold on…I'm just getting an urgent message live right now._ _This just in: The results of the election on Manaan have just come in, and Nilko Bwaas has won in the biggest landslide in Manaan's history. The vote was a stunning seventy seven percent majority. Bwaas is due to be sworn in as Senator early next year and he is due to give his acceptance speech within the next few hours. Wow, speak of the devil right? Now the Liberal Party is only one away from that desperate sixty percent they need. Now all we're waiting on is the Malastare election. Again, that's a topic for the next segment of Firestorm. In other news the…_"

Carth turned off the news hologram as Juhani walked into the room.

"Has Bastila not returned yet?" said Juhani. "It has been quite a long time."

"Knowing her, she probably did something stupid, or maybe Revan found her," said Carth with a furrowed brow.

"If I may say so Carth," replied Juhani. "I do not think you give Bastila enough credit."

"Maybe," said Carth. "But despite her Battle Meditation, she ain't exactly Miss Invulnerability. She's susceptible to mistakes, as are we all. And Revan's not an idiot."

"Well I hope that the reality is not as bad as your pessimism," said Juhani. "What is happening in the galaxy worth mentioning?"

"Eh," said Carth. "It's all dull and dry political news. Nothing exciting like that hostage crisis your friend Belaya saved two months ago. You probably wouldn't be interested in this kind of thing."

"No worries," said Juhani. "Is there something else is not on your mind?"

"Bah it's probably Revan," growled Carth. "Unless Bastila can stop him, I have to help him get out of here. And I don't like it. Do you think we should go and look for Bastila? She's been gone such a long…"

"Oh ye of little faith," said Juhani rather coyly. "Do not worry Carth. I am sure that whatever she is doing, she will be fine. But perhaps you just need to let your anger out and then let it go."

"Yeah, you're right," recanted Carth. "I don't get political points for being an idealist. I have to do the best I can with what I have. I'm just a Captain. I suppose I should be grateful that I'm not an Admiral…they're the ones who get the most political pressure of everyone, but I promised Revan that I'd help him keep the military wing Republic strong and prepared for the worst. I can't do that unless I'm an Admiral. My hands are tied."

"Your intentions are noble," said Juhani. "I have no doubt that you will rise up the ranks. And then, who knows? Maybe in that position, you will find a way to do what is necessary in spite of the political mess. You have that ability Carth."

"I hate to interrupt this thrilling conversation," said Bastila who had just walked in and had consciously asserted to her full and normal composure.

"Bastila!" shouted Carth. "What the hell happened!"

"I'm sorry Carth, but I do not have time explain," said Bastila hastily. "Juhani, Master Vrook wants us back on Coruscant immediately."

"Why?" asked Juhani.

"He didn't say," said Bastila. "But he didn't sound very patient, so we should leave now."

"Very well," said Juhani. "Let us go then."

"But…" Carth could not even get a thought out before Bastila and Juhani were out the door and heading to their transport. He couldn't help but feel partially responsible for Revan's departure. This was really Carth's biggest frustration even though he was wont to try and hide it. He did not know why, but somehow Revan's departure plan made Carth feel somewhat guilty.

"_I hope he knows what he's doing…_"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Revan sat alone on a stool in the local cantina on Citadel Station. After Bastila had left, Revan had taken the next monorail to the cantina to spend his last few hours of freedom in solitude with a drink or two. There was nothing else for him to do. As he sat with a light hit of Juma Juice, he began contemplating to himself. He went over the escape plan in his head at least a dozen times, and yet he still had some concerns about it.

The plan was simple. Carth arranged for Revan to be scheduled for an official debrief on the Star Forge mission tomorrow. He would plan for Revan to stay the night, but in reality, Revan would make his escape immediately before the midnight lock-down. The idea would be to make it look like Revan bailed out of the debrief session at the last minute, and that his escape was not facilitated.

Revan's only concern was that this was cutting it very close. He knew he would have no problem persuading the dock master to lower the energy shields, but if he was too late, the metal plates would descend over the shields, and he would be stuck on the station for eight hours, and this was time Revan felt like he simply could not afford to waste. This was going to be a very long journey, and Revan knew that it would be best to get it underway as fast as possible.

This kind of thing was very strange to Revan. During the quest for the Star Forge, he had to be on guard at all times, functioning on very little sleep. He had never really gotten the chance for any solo time. He wasn't even sure if he knew what that was; but his drink at the cantina without personal company seemed rather relaxing. It allowed for him to ponder in his own thoughts uninterrupted, and the burden of everyone's well being to bear seemed much lighter.

"Excuse me master Jedi," said a young mysterious voice of a man who was now approaching Revan. Revan turned to face him. He had blond hair, parted straight down the middle, pale skin, and was dressed in casual clothing. "Hello there."

"Good evening," said Revan casually. "_There goes my Revan-time,_" he thought to himself.

The gentleman approached him and sat down on the stool next to him. Revan did not know this man, but he could tell that there was something odd about him. On the outside, he appeared to be just an average citizen, but an odd feeling that this man gave to Revan got him thinking a bit.

"If you don't mind, I am a historian and a scientist for the Republic…although my friends think of me more as a historian than a scientist."

Revan chuckled. "Well, what do _you_ think you are?" he asked somewhat playfully.

"I'd call myself both, but I'm not exactly here for that. May I have a moment?"

"Of course," said Revan as he began to collect his thoughts. "As long as you're not also a reporter."

"Oh no," said the man. "I can assure you, my intentions are strictly honorable. I work for the Republic. I am attempting to gather analytical information about the Mandalorian War. Being a Jedi Knight, you must have an intellectual and unique perspective on the matter. Would I be able to use your indulgence?"

Revan smiled, finding it rather humorous that he was going to talk about firsthand events in third person, and that he did not know that he was talking to the former Dark Lord. "Alright," he said. "What's your name?"

"My name is Mical, but my friends like to call me Disciple."

"Disciple…" said Revan. "That's an interesting nickname. I always find it humorous when a person's nick is longer than the real name." The man laughed, but for Revan, it was different. His name was Revan; simply Revan. No surname or middle name; that was it. However, during the Mandalorian War, his nickname became the "Revanchist". This was another thing Revan remembered about his past, and it humored him to see the parallel.

"And what is your name master Jedi?" asked Mical.

"You can call me Jack," said Revan. At this point, Revan was feeling a very pleasant vibe of energy through this man. He looked much too young to be a war veteran, but Revan felt that this man was very strong in the Force, and his energies were mildly potent. It was as if this man had received some degree of Jedi training, but it didn't last. He felt compelled to say something. "Before we start," said Revan. "Tell me something Mical. Obviously you are much too old to be trained as a Jedi, but I sense a somewhat different kind of energy within you. Have you had any kind of previous training?"

Mical was baffled and stunned by Revan's question. The fact was, he did train as a Jedi for a very short time, but he left the Order before making any progress as a padawan. Mical was not at all unfamiliar with interviewing Jedi, yet none of them were able to sense this. "I…how…? Have we met before?" he asked.

Although Revan felt a high degree of energy flowing very easily through this man, he had never anticipated that the answer would actually be a yes. He laughed and then said. "I don't think so. You don't look familiar to me. I just got a strange feeling in the Force that came from you. So you trained with the Order then?"

"Briefly yes," said Mical. "But I left, shortly before the war began."

"You don't look like you were old enough to fight in that war," said Revan.

"I became of age during it," said Mical. "But I pursued academics and now here I am."

"Any particular reason you left?" Mical delayed his next answer a bit, for he was unsure of what to say.

"I didn't have anyone to teach me," said Mical. "Most of them had gone to fight the war, so I was left with no one."

Revan nodded in understanding but he thought to himself, "_He thinks I'm a Jedi, so he's lying…probably in order to avoid a lecture. Yet somehow…there is some truth to his words. There is a lot more to this man than meets the eye._"

"But this is in the past, and I had hoped to keep it this way," concluded Mical. "So anyway, how much time have you got?"

"A few hours…"

"Excellent!"

Revan and Mical talked for four hours non-stop. Time flew, but Revan was highly amused, for he had not anticipated enjoying himself this much in a large block of free time in an unfinished cantina with a stranger.

They discussed the Mandalorian War, Darth Revan and Darth Malak, and a comparison of philosophy between Jedi and Sith. Though Revan never attempted to learn more about this man than he already had, he rather liked him. The impression that he received of him was that he was not only highly astute in just about everything, but he was modest, and open-minded. It was a bit of fun for Revan, being able to gloat about himself every now and then, without giving away that he actually was Revan. But Mical was not interested in uncovering any dirt or discussing personal life. His focus was primarily on the subjects that they discussed and the overall implications from all viewpoints. He listened intently, and he seemed to absorb the information quite well, as he continued to further pursue the subjects of interest with question after question. "_Must be why they call him Disciple_," thought Revan.

Revan looked at his watch and suddenly realized that the time was 2330. His time had now come. "Well, I have very much enjoyed this conversation with you Disciple," said Revan. "But I must be going now. I have an early flight out tomorrow back to Coruscant and I need to get some shut-eye."

"Have a good trip Master Jedi."

"Thank you," said Revan. "However, before I go, I'll just leave you with this." Mical looked up and listened as Revan spoke. "I knew Revan…a long time ago, before he turned to the dark side. I look at everything now, and I sometimes believe that Revan did not make the wrong choice in going to war against the Mandalorians, but he and I were friends before he left the Order. I have not seen him since that war, but I'm guessing he hasn't changed all too much in terms of the positive aspects of his character."

"What do you mean?"

"Revan did a lot of things that would be considered by all moral standards as cruel and evil, but he was not erratic or irrational in his thinking. He always had a purpose behind his actions; they were never blind. He was always thinking of the big picture, that one."

"Interesting…" replied Mical.

"Well I implore you to look into that whenever you are able, although I imagine that such information would be difficult to come across." Revan enjoyed saying this quite a bit, but he wondered how useful the man would find it, as it was as cryptic as Kreia's lectures.

"I see," said Mical. "Well, thank you very much for your time and your advice Master Jedi. I wish you a safe journey back to Coruscant, and may the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you," said Revan as he bowed. He immediately turned and quietly left the cantina, without arousing suspicion.

Revan casually made his way back to the monorail and stepped inside. It was late at night, so he was the only one on board. The monorail fled with incredible speed toward the docking bay. The cantina Revan was at was stationed between the main Republic headquarters and the docking bay, allowing for a much shorter monorail ride. Ten minutes passed, and Revan found himself in the docking bay once again, standing right at the stop where he bade goodbye to Bastila.

An ill feeling took over Revan, as if he was finally realizing in full what he was actually going to do. He was about to leave everything behind; to go with Lena to the Unknown Regions. Revan's doubts about whether or not he was doing the right thing had long since been dispelled, but the recent flash of how he had just lied to all of his friends and loved ones through his teeth and that this lie may very well be the last thing he would say to them was eating away at him.

Revan was able to smile a bit during the conversation with the Disciple, but that was because he shifted his focus. Now Revan's demeanor had taken a much more serious and somber tone. More of his memories were going to eventually come back, and Revan was not looking forward to knowing what they were. He had a faint idea of his exploits at Althir and Malachor V, but he knew that when he would see it all flash again, he would not like it.

Yet at the same time, another thought pondered into Revan's mind as he continued contemplating on the monorail. The clear memories went from childhood to Dxun, and yet there were other memories that had returned to him, but they were clouded, incomplete, and incoherent. Revan wondered how he was able to tell Canderous that the helmet of Mandalore was on Rakata Prime. Chronologically speaking, he should not have remembered this, and yet somehow he knew. It was clearly the Force at work, and Revan wondered if the answers would come before more memories would.

"_Well…_" thought Revan. "_I guess I better get going_." He began to pick up the pace as he moved towards the bay with the ship. The soldier guarding the door saw Revan coming.

"Good evening Master Jedi," said the soldier. "Do you need access to your ship?"

"I do," said Revan. "I'm only here for another day, so I didn't want to check into an apartment."

The soldier nodded in understanding. "Of course master Jedi. Right this way." The door opened and Revan made his way into the hanger. Once he was sure that he was no longer being watched, Revan began climbing his way up to the top of the ramp where the hanger bay controls were located. After commanding the door to open with the Force, he entered to face the one man inside.

"What are you doing?" said the soldier. "You're not supposed to be in here."

Revan narrowed his eyes upon the soldier and without even waving his hand, began to Force persuade him. "There's no need for an overreaction. You're going to open the hanger bay shields for me." The soldier made no reply but merely proceeded in entering the codes to unlock the hanger. Revan turned his head to see the big blue shield barring the exit to the skies begin to flicker and then disappear.

"The hanger bay shields are now open for you," said the soldier blankly.

"Good," said Revan while still dangerously staring at him. "I was never here. You will reactivate the shields at the time of the lockdown and resume your duties." The soldier nodded in blank obedience as Revan hopped downward and ran to his ship.

The time was now 2347. Revan slowly crept into his ship and began making his way to the cargo hold to get Lena, who was most likely sleeping. As he passed through the garage and entered the hallway, he heard a small pinnacle of giggling.

Revan immediately reacquired his wits and took cover behind the intersection to the med bay. He quietly summoned the _Heart of the Guardian_ from the back of his belt and held it in his right hand without igniting it. "_What the hell?_" he thought as he began to listen in.

"Well I'd vouch," said Lena in response to a previous comment. "But that's up to Revan."

"Shouldn't he be back by now?" said a vaguely familiar voice that was female. Revan did not recognize it.

"_I know that voice…where have I heard it before?_" thought Revan.

"Oh Revan's already here," said Lena. This remark immediately made Revan flinch and almost reveal his position. "He's right behind the med bay." Revan felt like he had just been slapped. "Come on out Revan!" continued Lena with a hysterical smirk. "I know you're there, and you're not that good yet."

Revan stepped out into plain sight and entered the main hold. Without even looking at the other guest in the room, Revan zoomed in on Lena. "What the hell are you doing out of the floor compartment?"

"I got bored in there," said Lena casually. "Besides, Revan don't you want to say hi to some apparent friends of yours?"

Revan turned to look at the other person in the room. His eyes shifted back and forth between this person and Lena to make sure he was correct in his assessment. The guest in the room was a purple skinned twi'lek female on the right. On her forehead was a massive array of markings and tattoos. She wore dark clothing, as if dressed in a manually crafted dark Jedi robe. "_Of all the people I could have run into…_" thought Revan. "_This one takes the cake._"

"Hello again, my friend," said Yuthura Ban.

"Yuthura…" said Revan. "I must say your visit is fairly surprising. Nice to see you again though…"

"And you," said Yuthura. "You made quite a mark on the Sith after you left Korriban."

"I'm glad to see you made it out safely," responded Revan.

"I wasn't the only one," said Yuthura.

"So it's confirmed then?" asked Lena. "You two are in fact friends?"

"Yeah," said Revan. "I'll tell you about that later."

He was speaking rather hastily for he had just looked at the time, and it was now 2351. He had less than nine minutes before the lock-down and then he would be stuck in Citadel Station for another day.

"Wait a minute," said Revan as he turned back to Lena. "Did you say "_friends of yours_"_… _as in more than one friend?"

"I did," said Lena as a young man entered the main hold from the cockpit.

His face was covered by a shadow but he stepped out and into plain sight and Revan recognized him immediately, and was even more surprised by this. He was very young, most likely younger than twenty years old, but he was very handsome, dressed in casual clothing. His hair was combed properly and stood perfectly still at the top of his head. Revan saw the kid only as a splitting image of the boy's father, except slightly taller.

"What's up Revan?" said the kid with a growing smirk.

"Dustil Onasi…" said Revan. "I don't think your father would be very happy if he saw you here right now."

"My dad thinks I'm in bed right now," said Dustil.

"Which is where you probably should be," retorted Revan and Dustil gave Revan a look like he was planning on sticking his tongue out at him.

Lena leaned over to Revan. "I take it he's a friend too?"

Revan nodded. "Again, story for another time…"

"So where are you off to in such a hurry?" asked Yuthura. "Planning an exciting trip?"

"You could say that…" said Revan who looked at his watch again to see that another minute had passed. A short and uncomfortable pause occurred between them and Revan immediately broke the silence before he could feel more awkward. "Well, I'm truly flattered that the two of you would surprise me like this, but Lena and I must be off, so if you two can kindly show yourselves out, that would be much appreciated."

Yuthura and Dustil did not move but merely stared at Revan.

Lena turned and leaned towards Revan again. "I get the feeling they want to come with us."

"Yeah about that…" said Revan. "What did you tell them?"

"Not much," said Lena. "Just that we're going into the Unknown Regions…"

Revan looked back at Yuthura and Dustil and began to laugh a little. "And you two really want to come with us?"

"We've got nowhere else to go," said Yuthura.

"And we won't slow you down," said Dustil.

"Yeah, sorry," said Revan. "I'm sure you mean well, but I can't take you on this mission. It's much too dangerous." Though Revan was speaking, his mind was in utter disbelief. "_Why the hell would the two of them…of all people, want to come with Lena and I?_"

"Well I'm sure you know," said Dustil. "That it's 2355 and that means you have less than five minutes before the lock-down." Revan looked at his watch again to see that Dustil was right.

"Lena…" Lena looked at Revan. "Can you please get these two off my ship, so we can get out of here?"

"C'mon Revan," said Dustil. "We want to help you."

"We don't really care what you're doing," said Yuthura. "But whatever it is, it's a hell of a lot more exciting than what we were doing."

"Not good enough," said Revan. "Now I won't ask again. Please leave my ship."

"We're running out of time," said Lena. Revan signaled to Yuthura and Dustil to leave, but the two stubbornly refused. Revan looked at his watch again. It was now 2356.

"_Four minutes left…_" he thought. "_And priming the engines takes three…_"

"Revan?" said Lena.

Revan muttered a curse under his breath and then spoke. "I ought to throw you both off right now, but I'm out of time. Lena...let's go."

Without even saying a word, Lena darted to the cockpit and fired up the engines. Within three minutes, the ship was ready for takeoff. As she initiated the launch sequence and turned the ship around, the time was 2359. "_Right on time_," thought Revan as she throttled forward and blasted the ship straight out of the docking bay and off Citadel Station. The shields reactivated once again and a large metal barrier stretched down past the doors, beginning the regular midnight lock-down.

"That was way too close," said Dustil.

"Yeah, no thanks to you two," said Revan sourly. "Now both of you sit down…"

"If I could just say something," said Lena. "I think we should take them along." Dustil and Yuthura exchanged looks, but Revan could not help but look at the ceiling. His face was immensely flustered and he just wanted to let out a scream of frustration, though he did not know why.

"We'll see," said Revan in a cold tone of voice. "We're not leaving Republic space just yet. I'll take you along for now…and then I'll decide if you are to stay or be dropped off somewhere else."

"So where are we going then?" asked Lena.

"Plug in the coordinates for Rakata Prime."

"Rakata Prime?" said Lena. "Why there?"

"I want to see what information I can gather from the Elders. See if they know anything about them…" Revan hesitated to say more.

"Do you think they will?" asked Yuthura.

"I don't know, but their race has been around a long time. They may have had encounters…" Revan said, still carefully checking his words around Dustil and Yuthura. "With them in the past…that's what we're going to find out, and maybe visit an old friend if we have the time. Punch it Lena."

Lena punched in the coordinates and Revan pulled the upper lever back, immediately jumping the _Ebon Hawk_ into hyperspace.

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	14. Chapter 13: Hitch a Ride

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Hitch a Ride  
****

* * *

**

The Ebon Hawk breezed safely through the tunnel of hyperspace travel with as much smoothness as ever before. The ship was fully fueled, and the engines were at their prime, producing a soothing hum within the hull that with the Force, Revan could feel and cherish the mild vibrations. However, in addition to the perfect material was the most important element; love. And Revan loved the ship. It brimmed in his thoughts almost as much as his love for Bastila. Now the ship was soaring to the other side of the galaxy after only a few hours and he still was not used to the idea that he would be leaving her, that after a promise as strong as a blood oath; an unbreakable vow, he was not certain of returning. Of course, there was also his new crew to give him worlds of fun.

"Ironic isn't it?" Revan asked Lena.

"What's ironic?" she replied as she cracked her knuckles.

Revan let out a small chuckle. "I just spent sweat, blood, and time telling my best friends and invaluable companions not to come with me, and then these two…" Revan pointed to Yuthura and Dustil behind him. "Jump on board at the last second."

Lena responded with a similar chuckle. "If they aren't useful in the slightest, we can always drop them off on the nearest rock…or before."

"Good one," retorted Revan with a smile. "But if Dustil wound up dead because of me, Carth would kill me, and I probably wouldn't be able to stop it."

"No leverage to stop you from killing me though," said Yuthura, reminding Revan again that they were right behind him and had heard everything. "Just like before."

"Could I change the conversation to something less violent, or is this the wrong crowd?" sneered Dustil.

Revan got up and proceeded past his new companions to the main hold, beckoning them to follow. "Since you're here and insistent upon coming, maybe you ought to tell me what you've been doing for the last year and how you got here."

The three of them sat down in the common room, along with the droids, both of them alert and present, Lena came rushing in as well.

"What happened to flying the ship?" asked Revan.

"And do what?" replied Lena. "Listen to Republic talk radio? Hell no! We're in hyperspace and that isn't changing for a good four hours. I napped enough under the floorboards. I need to hear a story."

"And now you're going to make me listen to their entire life stories again because you haven't heard them," said Revan.

"You were going to make me do latrine and dish duty for the entire voyage but you don't hear me complaining."

"_I never win…do I_," thought Revan.

"Ah," said Dustil at the same time and with a smile. "Latrine and dish duty; the anathemas of space travel…" The rest of the crew turned to give him odd looks. "An anathema is something that no one likes to do."

"How long have you been waiting to squeeze that into a sentence?" retorted Lena, and Dustil and Yuthura started laughing.

"Alright," said Revan. "I guess I'll start with you Yuthura. Tell Lena your story as briefly as possible, and then tell me what I need to know."

"Fine," said Yuthura.

"Interjection: Master if you have no use for my assassination protocols at this time, my audio sensors grow weary at repetitive stories heard from the twi'lek meatbag. I request permission to go to standby mode."

"Granted," said Revan with a nod. He then turned back to Yuthura. "Please go on."

"I was born on Sleheyron, as a slave to the Hutts. I got the shit whipped out of me on a regular basis; fun early childhood. When I was five, I killed my master, Omeesh the Hutt and escaped Sleheyron by stowing aboard a cargo ship. Then the crew abandoned me and the ship on some desolate world. I was pretty close to going out forever at that point, but a passing Jedi Knight saved my life and then trained me as a Jedi."

"How'd you kill Omeesh?" asked Lena.

"Knife to the belly," said Yuthura. "Which is actually why I prefer a shoto as opposed to the generic lightsaber. Anyway, as a Jedi, I wanted to return to Sleheyron and fight against slavery, because I was angry…really angry. My master held me back because of this issue, and eventually that conflict drove me away from the order. In desperation for power and a new method of achieving my ends, I joined the Sith. I rose to the top pretty quickly and became the apprentice of headmaster Uthar Wynn, who Revan and I had the pleasure of killing a year ago. As his apprentice, I was second in command at the Academy, and I decided who got in and out."

"Is that how you met Revan?" asked Lena.

"Yes," said Yuthura. "He infiltrated the school a year ago, posing as just another Jedi defect. Somehow he got his hands on a medallion, and when he made his case, I let him in. By the way, how did you get that medallion?" she asked looking at Revan.

Revan chuckled. "I killed a couple of little thugs and took them. I actually have two."

"Amusing," said Yuthura with a smirk. "So I favored him and secretly helped him surpass all the other hopefuls in the hopes that he would help me kill Master Uthar and take his place. Revan was required to get five points of prestige based on merit. He did that in a matter of days, even to the extent of getting one of the other hopefuls killed in a really funny way."

"How?" asked Lena.

"Hold on," interjected Dustil. "I gotta tell this one."

"Fine," said Revan. "Dustil you tell this part, then no more interruptions."

"Shaardan was undoubtedly the second best Sith student. He was a troublemaker and not the most polite guy in the galaxy but he had fun. He had a real stomach for punishment in blood and guts and enough of a troubled early life to be one pissed off son of a bitch. Revan found the sword of Ajunta Pall, and on his way out, Shaardan tried to take it from him. Revan gave him a fake sword, and when Shaardan presented it to Master Uthar, Uthar killed him for stupidity."

"It's true," said Revan. "I felt terrible about laughing at the time, but it was hilarious."

"Alright, I'll take it from here again," said Yuthura. "Thank you Dustil for that inordinate description."

"You're welcome," chided Dustil with a sheepish grin.

"So Revan proceeded to the final test, a walk through the tomb of Naga Sadow, in which he and I planned to kill Master Uthar together after he found the Star Map and the Sith lightsaber. When we got to that point…"

* * *

_Uthar blocked a two pronged blow from both Revan and Yuthura with his double bladed red lightsaber. For this fight, Revan had used the Sith lightsaber he had just received and had swung high, while Yuthura swung low. After blocking both blows, Uthar kicked Yuthura in the face, taking her out of time while he concentrated on Revan. He spun and twirled his lightsaber staff in the air at lightning speed and unleashed a flurry of blows upon Revan. Revan backed up, dodging and blocking them as much as he could while Yuthura attempted to recuperate. Revan matched Uthar's raw strength with his own and clashed with him, holding the other end of Uthar's blade at bay. _

_Uthar's strength was superior to Revan's, and as he held his left hand on the long hilt of his weapon, he grabbed Revan's lapel with his right and began draining his life force. Revan let out a scream of pain, feeling weaker and weaker. As Uthar laughed manically, Yuthura came up from behind and attempted to strike him in the back. Uthar pulled back and caught the blow. He then kicked her again, this time in the stomach. Without a moment to waste, Revan hurled his lightsaber at the back of Uthar's head. Uthar sensed it and ducked just in time, causing the blade to hurl past him without even skimming the top of his bald and tattooed scalp. Revan scowled and lunged forward. As Uthar held his doubled bladed lightsaber high, Revan launched forward with a high side kick at his chest. Instead, Revan's boot smashed the hilt of Uthar's double bladed lightsaber and broke it in half. However, the split was right down the center, causing Uthar to now wield his weapon as two single hilt lightsabers._

_Instead of backing up, Revan landed a punch to the bridge of Uthar's nose with the front of his right fist. Uthar's head flopped backwards, but this turned into a back flip, in which both of Uthar's legs smacked Revan's jaw on their way up. Revan was knocked backwards and onto the floor. Uthar pressed his attack against Yuthura with both of his lightsabers in the hopes of overpowering her and her shoto. However, Yuthura held her ground and Uthar was frustrated by his inability to move her. The match between them was a stalemate of rapidly flashing lightsaber blades in the air. Revan rose to his knees and summoned his Sith lightsaber back to him. On the way back, the blade of the lightsaber skimmed Uthar's hip. By this time, Uthar's blades were clashed with Yuthura's, and when Uthar felt the cut ensue, Yuthura immediately ducked his twin blows to her head and violently planted her shoto into Uthar's boot, stabbing it through his foot and into the ice floor above the acid pool that they had been fighting on. Yuthura continued to twist the blade deeper into his foot as Uthar let out a wail of agony. _

_When it was fully in and through the ice, Yuthura with all her strength began dragging the blade around in a large circle, breaking the ice around it, despite Uthar's cries of despair. Yuthura pulled her blade out and then summoned the large ice block out, exposing the acid underneath. Uthar stood on the edge and desperately fought to break his foot free, his back facing the pool, while Revan stood in front of him._

"_You talk about how much you love inflicting pain upon others, and yet you have no stomach for a little flesh wound in your foot," sneered Yuthura. "Your rule of the Sith Academy is over Master Uthar. That power now passes to me, and my friend here."_

_Uthar spat a blotch of blood into Revan's face and then another one into Yuthura's. "You are not strong enough to run the Academy. If you were, you wouldn't have needed him in the first place. You are pathetic Yuthura Ban."_

_For a moment, there was a pause in the conversation. Uthar merely stared into their faces, his fear pressed down by the pain of the hole in his foot while Revan breathed deeply and softly. Yuthura stared into Uthar's eyes with pure hatred._

"_Fine!" yelled Yuthura as she delivered a swift front kick to Uthar's chest. Uthar fell backwards into the acid pool and his body burned before Revan and Yuthura's eyes. Revan looked away and closed his eyes, a small bit regretful at the disarmed man's fate.

* * *

_

Dustil chuckled a bit. "I wish you had said something more epic…like 'This is _MY_ school!' and then kicked him."

"That's my last memory of you until now…" said Revan. "Well, without forgetting your little mistake after that."

"Yeah," said Yuthura. "A human mistake I suppose."

"What mistake?" asked Lena.

"I turned to Revan and I said _'Sorry my friend, but I cannot share the power of the academy with anyone. In order to ensure my right as the new headmistress, you must die.'_ Then I attacked him. It was hardly a contest. Revan saw it coming, and he beat me in thirty seconds."

Lena turned to Revan. "Why did you spare her life?"

"It went like this," interjected Yuthura with a glint in her eyes.

* * *

_Yuthura had stumbled and fell to her knees as she began to speak, struggling to raise her head to look Revan in the eye after being bruised and exasperated from the short-lived fight. _

"_I am beaten…" she stuttered. "You…you are too strong for me and I was a fool to think otherwise…I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I am at your mercy."_

"_Breathe," said Revan. "And you ask for mercy? YOU! A Sith!"_

_Yuthura breathed heavily and deeply and then spoke again. "I…I suppose I am."_

"_What makes you think I would grant you such?"_

"_Something tells me you are…not like the other students," said Yuthura. "I do not know why that is. I was right…back at the cantina I was right wasn't I? There was something different about you…more so than I ever suspected. You're not here to kill me. You're not even here to take over the school…are you…?"_

"_No," said Revan with a sigh. "I'm not."_

"_Huh," said Yuthura as she slowly began to stand up, still clutching her waist. "I should have figured that out sooner. So what happens now? Will you kill me like any other Sith would? Will you not strike me down but show me mercy in the form of pain and humiliation? Or perhaps…will you just let me go?"_

"_Let you go?" asked Revan._

"_If I asked…" continued Yuthura. "Would you let me leave this place? Leave this wretched world, leave the Sith?"_

"_Perhaps," said Revan. "But tell me why you tried to kill me, first."_

"_I…I didn't think I had a choice. To tell you the truth…you reminded me too much of a past that I wished to forget. You reminded me of myself…before I joined the Sith. I just…didn't want to think about it."_

_Revan turned his head to look Yuthura in the eye and saw a single tear flowing down her face. She looked at him and what she saw shocked him. He wasn't going to do it. Any other Sith would have gladly struck her down and claimed her title, but what she saw was no Sith. She was staring into the face of compassion and mercy. The feeling was relinquishing but also terrifying._

"_Maybe you ought to start…thinking about your past, despite how hard it may be," preached Revan._

"_Maybe," said Yuthura. "But what could I gain from it? All I see are mistake after mistake after mistake…"_

"_But these mistakes all stemmed from something noble and pure didn't they…?"_

"_All the things I wanted to do…all the wrongs I wanted to right; I haven't done any of it. They just got farther and farther from my mind. The Jedi couldn't help me with that, so I joined the Sith, thinking they could help me, but that didn't work either. And I fell before I realized what I had gotten myself into. All I cared about was power…and myself. That wasn't the person I used to be."_

_Revan looked at her again. "There is still time to change that," he said with confidence. "Maybe what you needed most was some peace."_

"_Yeah," said Yuthura. "The Jedi tried to show me, but I don't think I could ever go back to them. Then again…my place certainly isn't here. I think…I do need to leave, but perhaps it is time I set myself on the right path and do the things I swore I would do."_

"_There is nothing to stop you," said Revan._

"_Then I will. I__'ve already made up my mind. __You're a good friend," said Yuthura. "I sense you too have a destiny before you. I wish you all the best on the way to it. I__'ll be out of here as fast as I can. __You should leave before the rest of the Academy figures out what happened here."_

_Revan nodded. "May the Force be with you."_

_As Revan turned and began to move away, Yuthura suddenly called back to him. "Wait!" she said. "You didn't come to Korriban just to save me. Are you actually a Sith at all?"_

"_I was," said Revan with a slight jolt of hesitation. "But not anymore. To tell you the truth, I've been here once before. I've been in that very room before today," he said as he pointed to the room with the Star Map. Yuthura Ban finally understood who she had been dealing with this whole time._

"_You're Revan…aren't you…?"_

_Revan nodded and took a few steps back towards her. "No one is beyond redemption...not me, and certainly not you. Take this lesson from someone who has walked your path before."_

_Yuthura smiled and spoke with new-found courage. "May the Force be with you."

* * *

_

"Yeesh," said Lena with a snicker. "He befriends you, he helps you kill the headmaster, and then you try to kill him. He kicks your ass in half a minute and then sets you on life changing course; Yuthura I feel like you ought to be addressing Revan as your lord and savior."

"Sorry again Revan," said Yuthura. "But that is one reason I'd like to come with you. You could have just as easily killed me and it wouldn't have mattered in the long run. I've got a debt to repay."

"Debts to repay…" said Revan. "Is that what this is about? Don't answer that, actually." He stood up and began pacing around the room, passing the others in a circular path. "Yuthura, I spared your life because you deserved a better fate than that of a Sith. And Dustil…I helped you figure out that you were being tricked. As a result…you left the school before everyone started eating each other, which by the way, I should say that this was a bit of a hindrance because I honestly would have been happy to just walk out and back into Dreshdae without looking over my shoulder. But no, things just had to happen the hard way."

"Revan…" muttered Lena but Revan cut her off.

"So I suppose the logical path you're going to follow Dustil, if you're anything like your father…is that I saved your life by doing so, and now just like her you want to come along to return the favor."

"It does lead to that conclusion," said Dustil. "But no, actually that's not my main reason."

"Alright fine," said Revan as he sat back down in his seat and narrowed his eyes on Dustil. "Do tell."

"After I left you and my dad, I regrouped with a couple friends of mine. I told them the truth. They shipped out with Dak Vassar but I stayed behind. I wanted to see if I could get a few more people out of there while the three of you were in the tomb. It didn't work and I almost got killed, but I made it out…"

* * *

_Dustil kept the hood secured over the back of his head as he climbed aboard a merchant freighter. He sealed himself in the cargo hold and waited for the door to close and for the ship to leave. He didn't care where it was going as long as it wasn't here._

_All thoughts of doubt and worry had left him a while ago. He was about to leave his own world behind, and everyone he knew with it but he was never more sure of himself. Dustil's most adamant hatred; his greatest pet peeve was to be deceived. Though it did not inspire prejudice or automatic distrust in the kindness of strangers, nor stem from a single act of colossal betrayal like his father Carth, his reaction to any act of perjury or false witness was immediate distrust and suspicion. As a result, learning that Master Uthar had tricked him into believing his girlfriend Selene died by accident when in reality, she was killed deliberately because Uthar believed she was hindering his progress made Dustil furious. He was as mad as ever, yet somehow the disdain for the Sith seemed to keep his head straight. _

_Revan had shown him the truth and a different perspective, and it made Dustil question his past. All the pent up rage he had developed for his father, blaming him for the death of his mother when he failed to save them from the destruction of Telos and for the fact that Carth could never be there for his son was now quelled beneath his anger at the Sith. Though Carth accepted responsibility for not being there for his son, Dustil's anger nearly drove him to attack him once they reunited in the academy._

_He hid himself behind a set of heavy boxes and peered his eyes through the crack in between. To his surprise, another figure entered the cargo hold and began looking around. He couldn't make out the identity but he could feel the dark side around this person._

"That was fast…_" he thought. "_I didn't think they'd miss me that much._" There was no other ship docked and Dustil could sense the crew boarding and preparing for takeoff. Whoever this was, he knew he would have to deal with it soon before he was discovered._

_The doors were closed, and yet somehow this other Sith did nothing but merely stay put without attempting to escape. It was like he also wanted to leave, but Dustil did not wish to hear himself think that. This was a Sith, therefore he was not to be trusted. He stealthily climbed to the top of the box to get a better look, but as he leaned forward, he caused a slight creak in them. Dustil froze as the Sith perked his head up into a dangerous gaze._

"_I know that I'm not alone in this room," said the figure. It was a familiar female voice that Dustil recognized but could not finger. "I can feel your presence…the Force is strong with you…and well trained. Are you a Jedi? Are you a Sith? Or perhaps a Sith student attempting to escape the academy like the ones before…?"_

_Dustil jumped back down to where he was originally and Force blasted the two boxes in front of him straight at his new enemy but the Sith activated a purple shoto and sliced both of them in half for protection. As Dustil activated his red lightsaber and held it in front, he saw the face. It was not a he, but a she: Yuthura Ban, the senior vice headmaster of the academy._

_The two stood face to face with their lightsabers active, but Yuthura quickly shut off hers._

_"I come in peace…" she said._

_"And you'll be leaving in pieces!" yelled Dustil as he leapt forward with a powerful swing._

_Yuthura barely managed to reactivate her shoto and block the strike. The blades clashed and Dustil attempted to press down on her, but Yuthura's raw physical strength was formidable. She Force pushed Dustil away, but Dustil flipped back and landed on his feet._

_"Stop!" she yelled as she put away her shoto once again. "I'm not here to fight you."_

_"If you're here to take me back to the academy, then you better be prepared for the fight of your life!" yelled Dustil._

_"Quite the contrary my friend," said Yuthura. "I know who you are, and I know what Master Uthar did to you. I know why you plan to leave, and I am not here to change that."_

_"Why should I trust you?" asked Dustil. "And what makes you think that's the reason I'm leaving? Do you really know what you're talking about?"_

_"Don't try to confuse me with cryptic language Dustil Onasi," boomed Yuthura. "The Sith are the masters of deception, and I am as much a victim of it as you. That is why I too wish to leave."_

_Dustil slowly lowered his saber but did not deactivate it, as her last comment caught him by surprise. It was as if she was relating to him, as if she shared a goal. But how could he trust her?_

_"Then start talking," said Dustil. "What do you know of me and my intentions?"

* * *

_

"I didn't believe her at first," added Dustil. "She even told me you were Revan, and I still didn't believe that. Finally I agreed to tag along, at least until I could make my own way."

"Our first move was to try and find the Jedi Order," said Yuthura. "I had no intention of going back, but if any of them knew who I was, I wanted to tell them that I was no longer a Sith."

"Yeah, but then we found out what happened to Dantooine," said Dustil. "The Sith bombed it into a smoking crater. The enclave is a pile of rubble, so we couldn't go there."

"What about Coruscant?" asked Revan. "That's where the Jedi regrouped after Malak died."

"I just ended up sending a message to the Jedi council. Whether or not they believed me…I don't care anymore. We actually went to Telos," said Yuthura. "The ship we had smuggled on was going to Muunilinst. We hitched on board another that took us to Telos. Dustil mentioned to me that he promised Carth he'd meet him there, so we went just to wait for him. We landed in the firebombed villages and walked on the surface."

"Brought back some really bad memories," said Dustil. "I'm still not entirely sure what I got from it, but I feel better. I think it helped me clear my head fully and see what I had been a part of for all these years. And it made me think that I'm still young…I have time to make up for whatever wrongs I've committed, and I shouldn't waste it."

"Carth arrived and met with us while we were down there," said Yuthura. "A fairly happy father-son reunion, I think."

"He and I spent a fair amount of time, catching up," said Dustil. "But then he took six days off and took me on a little tour of the galaxy."

"Just like that?" asked Revan with a chuckle. "That sounds like Carth."

"Well he showed me what happened to Taris. That's another shocking thing…poor place got hit worse than Telos did."

"I'm not sure Taris will ever recover from that," said Revan. "It was never much of a place of natural beauty or human resources. I was there when Malak did it. Eight billion people…gone." Revan snapped his fingers. "Just like that, and all from five ships."

"How did you feel when you saw it?" replied Dustil.

"It was one of those things that hit me like a brick to the face," said Revan. "But it kept me going. If my party fell behind or I felt like I had to give a speech of some kind to them, I'd bring up Taris and remind them what happened. Some of my party members like Mission Vao, Zaalbar and Juhani were even more affected by that, having spent a large portion of their lives there. It was something we all needed to hear every once in a while to keep ourselves focused on the task at hand."

"Oh yeah," chuckled Dustil. "I remember Mission. Cute kid..."

"Aw, isn't that cute?" mused Lena with a sheepish grin. "Someone's…"

"We're drifting again…" interjected Revan. "Stick to the back story please."

"Right. Sorry," said Dustil. "Anyway, he also took me to Dxun and Althir. Those fresh war sites made me realize how spoiled and sheltered I had been. While I was complaining about my father not being there, he was watching his fellow soldiers die around him in the air and on the ground. And while I was living it up as a blissfully ignorant little sap in the Korriban Academy, Malak was blowing Taris to shingles."

"Sounds like you just received the same lesson over and over again, except in different ways each time," said Lena.

"I did. And listen Revan…when we first met at the academy, I treated you like shit. I gave off that smug and sarcastic attitude and talked to you and my dad in the most disrespectful tone ever. For that, I'm really sorry."

"Okay. What'd you do during that time?" Revan asked, as he turned to face Yuthura and apparently ignoring Dustil's apology.

"I was making plans to take a trip to Sleheyron," replied Yuthura.

"Which I joined in," said Dustil.

"What happened to father-son bonding?" asked Lena.

"Well Carth was a Commander at the time," said Dustil. "So he made it very clear that he needed to be heading the Republic effort to hunt down and destroy the rest of the Sith. He promised to spend time with me whenever he was able. I had breakfast with him this morning, right before you arrived."

"Alright," said Revan. "So right as your life is starting to take a turn for the better, you hitch aboard my ship and almost make me miss my chance to leave. Let's take this back a little bit. Yuthura, tell me about that trip to Sleheyron you took which Dustil joined in on."

"It was a hell of a thing," exclaimed Yuthura. "We had started out with almost nothing…just a shuttle that I rented. I took out a loan that let me do that and then some supplies..."

"Hold on," said Revan. "I hope you're not coming with me to get out of a bad financial situation."

"Not at all," said Yuthura. "My plan was to go to Sleheyron, free some slaves and help set them on their feet."

"Then how would you pay back the loan?" asked Lena.

"We robbed a bank…"

"A little...beneath you, don't you think?" asked Lena. "Or do I not know you well enough yet?"

"Well, you know," chided Dustil. "Merry pair of heroes robbing from the rich and freeing the slaves...poetic stuff, but we felt pretty good about it."

"What did the money have to do with freeing the slaves?" Revan asked. "I mean...how much did you steal?"

"A little over sixty million," replied Yuthura. "It wasn't for us aside from the four hundred large we needed to pay back the loan, interest, and then insurance down-payments; it was for the slaves. We dropped it on the farms, took the slaves off from their work, a bit too much of a sudden surprising revolt for the owners to do anything quick enough. As soon as we made the drop, we met up with a camouflaged merc team and started fighting."

"Caught them with their pants down and gave them a swift kick in the behind," said Dustil. "Hence...the bounty."

"About a third of those slaves were able to collect enough cash to find a way off that rock. The rest of them had at least enough to disappear for a while," said Yuthura.

"We did pretty much the exact same thing again on another plantation in a different sector of Sleheyron," said Dustil.

"I'm guessing a good amount of that money was too soiled to actually use, or perhaps lost in the dirt?" said Lena.

"It doesn't matter," said Yuthura. "I know how slaves think. You cut a bloody path through a plantation just to try and free slaves, it's not enough. These people have nothing to live for. They've got no money; they've got no family but fellow slaves. All they have are clothes on their back and skills to work on a plantation. They rely on their masters for food and shelter. You free a slave, he loses that; and that's a quick path to death."

"But…drop a shitload of cash onto them; suddenly they have an incentive to cooperate. It's either that or you point a gun to their head and force them to be free…but that's hypocritical in more ways than one," concluded Dustil.

Lena began to laugh a little. "Kreia wouldn't approve," she mused hysterically. "What was it she used to say? 'Seeing another elevated often causes envy, and perhaps in the end all you have wrought is more pain.' I don't buy it, but wow…your story is a hell of a lot more exciting than mine. Right Revan?"

"Your story took longer to tell," replied Revan to Lena. "But yes, that is very noble. Robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, setting hundreds of slaves free; it's very noble and I commend you for that. What made you stop?"

"After the second hit, the masters of those plantations came after us. The men who worked for us; their contract was up and they sought shelter elsewhere to save themselves," said Yuthura.

"We had something like a two million dollar bounty on our heads," said Dustil. "We needed to get the hell out of there."

"So we came to Telos to resupply," added Yuthura. We've got enough money to sustain ourselves easily, but we needed to lay low for a while and perhaps even pick another planet to help."

"But then we found out you were here," added Dustil.

"So then you hitched…?"

"Yeah."

"You two were doing such fine work across the galaxy helping people…you're throwing all of that away just to come with us," replied Revan. "I really don't understand your line of thinking."

"Let me try," said Yuthura. "Revan, my goals to free and help slaves was more successfully accomplished in these past eight months than I had ever dreamed of in my entire life. Although I was planning to continue, I have slowly come to the realization that there is simply too much of this in the galaxy for me to correct. You saved me back at Naga Sadow's tomb, but only so I could try to save myself in the long run. Though I knew I was doing a decent deed, I simply couldn't bring myself into doing some of the things I had to do in the name of justice. These kinds of actions that stem from noble motives ultimately fall into the morally gray category, and I simply cannot afford to be comfortable with morally gray anymore. I need something better. When I heard that you were leaving to the Unknown Regions, I saw an opportunity, and thus my focus has shifted."

"And I'm somewhat alike," continued Dustil. "But my intentions are a bit more influence oriented. I lived a spoiled and sheltered life on Telos in which all I did was complain…until I lost my mother. Then I lived a brainwashed life on Korriban in which I turned into a part of the monster that killed her. There's no place for me with the Republic or the Jedi. Call me ambitious, but what I want more than anything else is to make a difference. I want to give back; I want to leave a mark for good; I want this galaxy to be a better place because of me. And honestly, I'm really just trying to find out what I'm supposed to do."

"What's wrong with what you were already doing?" replied Revan. "I think a good amount of people are better off because of you."

"Maybe," said Dustil. "But it's just not something Yuthura and I can keep doing forever."

"He's a bit like you," said Lena with another giggle.

Revan smirked and then took a deep sigh. As he recollected his thoughts, the rest of them looked into his eyes. "This is not an overnight decision," he finally replied. "My initial statement still stands. I have something to do before we actually leave, and during that time, I'll observe your behaviors and capabilities. Until the time to pass judgment, I'll allow it."

"As first mate…I agree with you," exclaimed Lena in a rather useless tone.

"And speaking of that," responded Revan with a bit of a growl. "Bear this in mind. This is _my_ ship. While you're here, you'll follow _my_ orders, and if I'm not here, you report to Lena. In no way will you take matters into your own hands without consulting one of us."

"Think of us as mom and dad," chided Lena again.

"Alright," snapped Revan. "Lena you go ahead and take your little beauty nap again. I'm bored. Who wants to spar?"

"Gladly!" exclaimed Dustil.

"Yuthura?"

"Last time I fought Revan, it wasn't even a contest," replied Yuthura. "Count me in."

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42

* * *

  
_


	15. Chapter 14: Follow the Blood

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black

* * *

Chapter 14  
**

**Follow the Blood

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**

At the far eastern side of the galaxy, in the system of the Hutts lay a large moon. It had many names and titles: Smuggler's Moon, Gaping Maw of Nal Hutta, Hideaway, etc. but its main title according to the Republic was Nar Shaddaa.

Like Taris and Coruscant, the planet was all one gigantic city, with skyscrapers looming as high as the trees of Kashyyyk, and a population of billions. The air stank of liquor and foul breath and the true face of the city was that of fear. Carcasses and filthy waste filled the allies and side pavements; the streets were extended gutters, and the gutters were full of blood. It was not so much a graphic or petrifying thing to see from an aerial view, but only to those who observed by walking the streets regularly. Crime and oppression were regular acts that were done so in plain sight, even the worst of it. Muggings and murders occurred on a regular basis, and the sickness and grotesque nature of it was blissfully ignored by the individuals of the unending crowds.

War veterans, bounty hunters, traders and merchants, or anyone looking to disappear or make a dangerous reputation for themselves came here by choice. For these types of people, Nar Shaddaa was nothing more than another landing spot. The masses were simple people, born and raised, or dumped without anything or anyone. Similar to places like Mos Espa, Tatooine or Dreshdae, Korriban, the rule was by the few who owned the money and land, and often the same families. They thrived on the poverty and hopelessness of others, and like other wealthy individuals, kept themselves conveniently far away from the troubles while others ran the businesses.

There was no hope for this place, for it had been reduced into a cesspit of suffering and sorrow. It was the heart of crime and corruption in the galaxy, with a constant economic civil war about it between the Hutts and the Exchange. Those who held political power were nothing but puppets in the pockets of either of these two groups. Every once in a while, some form of idealist would attempt to rise and make a name for him or herself through fighting this kind of injustice. Some attempted to fight in the streets and protect the defenseless against muggings and beat downs. Others attempted to attack the perceived heart of the problems and become an incorruptible symbol that criminals would learn to fear. These vigilante acts were always short lived, for when one of such character would arise, a bounty hunter of equal or greater skill would appear behind with a knife to the back. But of course, there was always an exception to this rule.

In the commercial filled streets of the Red Sector, a dark suited prim and proper gentleman idly strolled from the theater exit. As he walked, his communicator began to flash.

"Yes dear…? The opera was lovely, definitely worth the trip. I'll tell you about it when I get home. How are the kids…? Ok good; tell Ari to have the dejarik board ready for that game I owe him. I've gotta go; I love you."

As he hung up, four members of the Gand species formed a small box around him that drifted with the pace of his movements. He tried to move past them, but they continued surrounding them. These aliens stood no more than four feet off the ground and wore breather masks that shielded their nose, and mouth. They had insect-like eyes and three fingers on their hands.

"I'm sorry, but I have no money to spare," said the man in the hopes that they would give up.

"_That's a laugh,_" said one of the Gand in their native language. Though he said it, it was clear that the man did not understand it. "_A man dressed the way you do always has a coin on him, but we are not interested in that._"

The tone of voice compiled with the inaudible words of the language began to frighten the man. "Look," he pleaded. "Even if I did have money on me, if I gave some to you, I'll have ten thousand hoboes after me. Now please, run along."

The Gand understood his words, but were unimpressed. They were not interested in this man's money. They were interested in the man himself. As the man attempted to walk faster, the one in front of him drew a knife concealed in his belt and held the pointy end at the man's stomach. Though he began to panic, the man extended his hands outward coolly as if half expecting this. Another Gand began to secure his arms while the other two stood facing the other way. Just as this was happening in the middle of the street, no external action was taken.

"Please…I have a family…"

"_The bounty on your head will be ours to collect,_" said the Gand holding the knife. "_Our species is a fighting one, and though the bounty on your head is twice as high alive, we have a reputation to maintain. Therefore, you must die._"

As this happened, a sniper shot echoed in the near distance and a red laser bolt pierced the boot of the Gand with the knife. He immediately dropped the knife, but the man could do nothing about it, as his hands were tied behind his back and was much too scared to even speak. The Gand cried out loudly and clenched his foot. The other Gand looked around to see where the shot came from, but another shot came out from another direction. None of them were hit, but they were scared enough to immediately begin fleeing. The Gand sprinted away while the injured one limped to catch up, leaving the man stranded in the middle of the street. The small crowds around the area had also dispersed at the sound of the echo.

The man immediately began running in the direction that he was walking towards, to find a way to untie himself and then leave Nar Shaddaa. He turned into an empty alley and headed down it, hoping to use it as a shortcut. He crouched against a wall and waited for any whispers of movement or trouble. "I can't believe this," he whispered to himself. "Someone saved my life…"

"Oh how wrong you are," said a sudden female sassy toned voice. "If you think of me a hero for doing it, you're dead wrong. Consider yourself a prisoner."

"What?" he yelled out loud, not knowing where this person was talking.

From the shadows and into plain sight, a young red haired woman walked over to where he was crouching. She was dressed black leather pants and a black leather jacket that was open at the front. Underneath was a green bra that was tied at the very center. Underneath her red hair was a headband that seemed to keep the center parting stable. She had brown eyes and a pretty face.

"You're not used to this kind of thing are you, Mr. Estringo?" she said. "It'd sure explain your clumsiness and inarticulateness."

"Who are you?"

"I'm both your best friend and worst nightmare in this place. You know, for a guy with so much to lose, you sure don't play things very smart when you come out here. Most men that require my tracking, I end up having to follow the blood, but you left a trail of perfume that reeks of foreign elitism behind you. I'm half surprised to find you alive and in one piece when I did."

"Please…" begged Estringo. "I have a…"

"A family?" interrupted the girl. "Everyone has some kind of family; and those who use it to underscore personal importance have no business out here."

"What do you want? Money?"

"Oh I'm fine thank you," snapped the girl. "Let me just explain your predicament right now, as you're no doubt stupefied by the last two minutes. Those Gand are like Tusken Raiders. They'll run and hide until they have strength in numbers, but they are vicious little things. They'll come back and find you, and then they'll make an example out of your corpse. If they don't, some other bounty hunter will. And I guarantee you won't last longer than twenty minutes without me."

"But…why?"

"While you were busy jerking off to those ugly sopranos, your shuttle was landlocked, and every dock authority was made aware of your name and face. They've been paid a nice little sum to block your exit. You won't be getting off this planet, which means little old Ari won't be playing his favorite game with his favorite daddy anymore."

"Please…"

"Oh take a sleeping pill, will you?" she snapped. "In fact…here." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small capsule. "Take this…it'll calm your nerves and ease the adrenaline flowing through you right now. It'll help you relax." She then gave him a small swig of water. Estringo merely looked at her. "I'm neither a cop nor a vigilante. I'm not asking you." He snatched the pill and the tiny flask of water from her and downed them both one after the other.

"Urgh," he muttered as the pill hit his stomach.

"Now, under any other bounty hunter, your head would be severed from your body and delivered to my boss on a silver platter while the rest of you would be dropped off the walkway; but that's not my style. How do you feel?"

"I'm…I just…" Estringo could not say anymore. He closed his eyes and plopped down to the ground unconscious.

The red manned huntress slightly giggled to herself. "_Pfft._ Just as always…too easy…"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

The Ebon Hawk began to slow as Lena skillfully glided it over the surface of Rakata Prime. They came in from the North end, landing the Ebon Hawk in front of the Black Settlement. Lena, Dustil, and Yuthura had never been to the planet, and to them, the world was beautiful; looking like the perfect vacation spot, with warm sandy beaches and palm trees, but Revan had a much different feeling. This was where he cut a bloody path of Black Rakata in order to rescue a captured Elder scout that their leader, the One was holding hostage. Near this area was the temple where he confronted Bastila for the first time when she became Malak's apprentice. These troublesome events filled his head, but he quickly shrugged it off, knowing that the purpose was not to dwell on the past.

"Alright," said Revan. "You'll have to forgive my awkwardness, as this planet brings back some unpleasant memories. We're going to the Red Settlement. It's a bit of a hike, but nothing you all can't handle."

"You _all?_" said Lena. "Don't tell me you're going to break your rule of the three person party."

"There aren't any tight corridors here," growled Revan, who seemed to not have the stomach for jokes at the moment. "And besides, the Elders are friends, and they deserve to know who I'm here with, even though they have never met any of you."

"So we're just going to leave the ship in the hands of these droids?" asked Dustil.

"Got a problem with that?" replied Revan coldly.

"No no," said Dustil who seemed rather worried after hearing that last statement. "No problem at all."

"Good," said Revan. "Now just remember, the Elders are Force sensitive. They are very powerful, but they are also very friendly. So smile, and just keep your cool. Don't speak unless spoken to, and be sure to look them in the eye. Otherwise, it's insulting."

"But don't they speak a foreign language?" said Lena. "I thought only you could understand it."

"But they can understand _you_," replied Revan. "That's why I'm warning you." The other three nodded in agreement. "Okay let's move out. T3 and HK, stay with the ship. HK, unless we have an intruder that is a Sith or a bounty hunter, do _not_ shoot to kill. Understand?"

"Retort: Oh ye of little faith master! As disappointing as I find it to not have the opportunity to blast an unwilling meatbag into a pulp, I shall obey your command as I always have, being the ever so loyal droid that I am." Revan nodded and exited the ramp, as Lena, Yuthura, and Dustil followed.

The four climbed the low altitude cliff walls at their most gradual areas, and moved over the top in order to avoid the roaming rancor beasts. The path near the North Beach had been crawling with them, as well as the areas around the exterior of the temple. They clung to the top and occasionally Force jumped over, in order to quickly move from one high point to another.

"Keep your distance from that temple," said Revan as they neared it. "That place is best left alone."

They hopped down back onto the path and began making their way to the Red Settlement, now that the rancors were out of sight. They moved due south, avoiding the remains of crashed ships and sharp metal objects that were littered throughout the floor.

As they moved, Revan suddenly began feeling a very strange sensation in his mind. It was not so much a disturbance in the Force as much as it was an odd thought that echoed with the vibe of the surroundings. Something was out of place, but he did not know why. Elder Scouts usually patrolled the area and hung around the cliffs, and yet Revan could feel none of them near him. The four of them had been hiking for at least a half hour and aside from the rancors going about their business, the whole area around him had been just a bit too quiet.

In an effort to avoid questions from the others, Revan darted ahead. They called for him, but he ignored them, moving forward at a much faster speed, hoping to find someone else in the area, or figure out what was going on.

"We better catch up with him," said Lena as she began to quicken her pace. "He knows this planet better than all of us."

Dustil and Yuthura agreed and quickened their pace as well. They ran as fast as they could down the path, thankful that there were no intersections or junctions that would lead off to somewhere else. Near the end of the path, all three almost simultaneously halted, for there stood Revan, still as a statue, staring out. He did not move; merely staring, but Lena could feel a dark cloud of emotion in Revan's mind. Something terrible had happened, and Lena had sensed it too, but she did not know what it was, being unfamiliar with the planet.

As they slowly came up, the corner of the path came to an end, and they saw a massive current of smoke filling the air above the beach they had just come upon. Below the smoke was a large structure that was completely and fully on fire. Snaps and cracks of sparks whistled through the air, and the burning wood was slowly crippling the foundation of the building.

Revan stared, and the other three began staring as well. They were more than one hundred meters away, but they could still feel the heat from the fire that brought a very uncomfortable feeling of warmth to their faces.

Dustil was the first to break the silence. "I'm guessing that bonfire isn't supposed to be there…" Yuthura and Lena looked at him, but Revan collapsed to his knees.

He buried his face within his hands, but no tears came from his eyes. This was a tragic loss, as well as a tactical one, for Revan's mindset was to gather what information he could about the True Sith, if they knew any, and then to tell them of his plans and have them prepare for anything. Now he was too late and was left with nothing. The fact that an entire tribe of Rakatans was now dead had not gotten to him yet, but he knew that it would eventually. Perhaps it was his need to appear strong in front of his crew that made him shed no tear, but that did not make the tragedy go away. "This is bad," he said. "Very bad…"

"This was the Red Settlement…wasn't it," said Yuthura. "I'm sorry Revan."

"Something's just not right about this though," said Lena. "I mean…this fire was definitely no accident. Do you think maybe the True Sith got to them first?"

"Or Mandalorians maybe," suggested Yuthura.

"I don't know," said Revan. "But I think we might want to look around; see if we can find any kind of footprints. Start looking around the beach, and be mindful of your own footwork."

The four of them spread out and began exploring the South Beach. The sand was highly coarse and heavy, and the water had washed up large amounts of driftwood and seaweed. Revan explored the area closest to the water. Dustil and Yuthura looked around in the area closest to the path they came in on, and Lena boldly explored the area closest to the fire.

Revan had his feet partially wet while exploring the shallowest parts of the water. The fire of the burning structure had begun to spread over the beach very slowly. Revan used the Force to increase the tide, so that it would help to keep the fire from spreading. As he did so, he noticed a few very shiny objects near the structure that the water had hit and was taking out to see. The glaring sun had caused the sand on the beach as well as the reflection of the water to be nearly blinding to the eyes, but Revan saw something else that looked even brighter in its light reflection. He immediately began moving towards it, forgetting the fact that the water was halfway up his calves. He used the Force to keep them from going out to sea, and then moved in on them. As he got closer, he whistled to the others that he may have found something.

Revan looked down and picked up a large sharp piece of glass that was stained with blood. The blood looked as if it had been recently spilled, but after looking at the area around it, he noticed a very small trail of blood; drops of blood that headed even further south and away from the settlement. Along with the blood were several large sets of light craters in the sand caused by heavy footsteps and close contact.

"Someone might have made it out of here alive," said Revan.

"A battle took place here," said Lena, as she moved ahead of Revan. "Look right here," she said, moving a few more steps away behind the burning building. "Someone fell down here, and then got back up. Look you can see kind of a face plant right here."

"Signs of a major struggle…" said Yuthura. "But there only seems to be two sets of footprints, excluding ours. This must have been a duel of some kind."

"Can we follow the trail?" said Dustil.

"There isn't much blood," said Lena. "But it looks like one of them began running right from here…" she said as she pointed to the right. "Look, there's a steady set of footprints here, and then another one going this way…and they were moving pretty fast. The first got his feet wet and then turned left and back onto the sand…the second set is moving in a straight line compared to the other one, which means he may have been chasing him. And it looks like the guy being chased was bare foot, where as the other guy had boots on…or really big square feet."

"But they stop right as they get to the cliff wall," said Dustil as he looked ahead.

"Then let's get up there!" cried Revan energetically, as he Force jumped up and beckoned the others to follow. They did so quickly, and Revan spoke again. "Look, more blood. The trail goes north from here…but not in the direction of the temple."

For another half hour, they followed the small bits and pieces of a trail they could find. Revan was treating this almost like a murder investigation, while the others merely followed his lead. He moved fast, but he never moved too far, always checking the trail. The supposed fight had lasted a very long time by the looks of it, spanning over the top of the cliff hills as if it was an endless trail. Revan was beginning to wonder if the fight was still going on off in a distance, but he knew he was not chasing a ghost and he was determined to find out what had happened. Most of this tracking had been done by looking at the ground for blood trails, footprints, or chipped or burnt grass.

Revan was standing on top of the cliff wall right nearing the Central Beach, and the other three were closely catching up with him again. He peered over the right side of it to see the top of the temple out in a distance. But then, looking down, he saw two dead gizka lying right next to each other. He hopped down to check the bodies. The bodies were cold and completely bloodless, as if their life force had been siphoned from them. Looking closer, he saw a very large red handprint on the gizka's necks. It almost looked like sunburn, but there were a few blots of dry red blood on their throats. Now Revan was worried. A dark Jedi had been involved in this fight…or someone with the capability of such a ruthless ability.

Lena, Yuthura, and Dustil had remained at the top, looking down at Revan while inspecting the bodies. Dustil then peered out towards the Central Beach, near the crashed hammerhead class Republic Capital Ship. Something odd was making his blood boil, but like Lena, he wasn't sure if the others felt the same way. There was much he had to learn about the Force, but if his instincts were right, there was something worth looking at in that area.

At a first glance, Dustil saw nothing out of place, aside from the stagnant sand on the beach. "Lena," he said and she looked at him. "Can I borrow those binoculars?" Lena took them off of her neck and gave them to Dustil. He began looking through them in all the places he had seen with his naked eye, but all he was seeing was the same sand, except in a 400% zoom.

"Can you see anything?" asked Yuthura.

"Yeah the sand looks even lovelier from this angle," mused Dustil. Lena scowled and reached to grab the binoculars from Dustil, but he suddenly froze and squinted his eyes. Through the binoculars, Dustil saw a small puddle of dry blood right on the beach. "_Wait!_" he said. "I see something. There's another blood trail…way up over there!" He jumped down before Lena or Yuthura could take a look and began running.

"Revan!" said Yuthura. "I think Dustil found something." Revan immediately stopped looking around the bodies and began sprinting towards Dustil. Dustil was running as fast as he could towards the area with Lena and Yuthura well behind him, but Revan was using Force speed to catch up. Revan overtook Dustil easily and came to the blood first.

"Where does that boy get the energy?" asked Lena to Yuthura and Yuthura merely shrugged.

"Korriban's even hotter, and there's no ocean breeze," she then replied.

Dustil caught up to Revan just seconds after he stopped in front of the puddle. "No fair, you got a head start," said Dustil to Revan with a mild grin.

"This isn't a game," said Revan coldly. "This is serious work. Treat it as such."

Lena and Yuthura came up to the puddle, but Revan was already ahead. There was a very shallow trench in the sand that was filled with blood, which suggests that someone was crawling.

Revan moved up and then looked to his left. He gasped in horror at what he saw.

Near the water, in a large mess of wet sticks and seaweed was a set of rocks. Lying with his eyes closed against one of the rocks was a dark skinned old man who Revan immediately knew to be his friend Jolee Bindo.

"_NO!_" yelled Revan as he sprinted towards him. "Jolee!" he cried as he lightly slapped his face hoping to wake him up. Jolee's eyes opened up and Revan immediately grabbed his hand and held it in his own. "Jolee, stay with me! Don't move!"

Jolee looked at Revan and as he spoke, Revan saw that his mouth was filled with dry blood. "I won't go far…" he said groggily. "Glad I…left enough of our blood for you to find me?"

"Don't speak…" said Revan. Revan began examining Jolee, only to be horrified by the large open gash in his stomach. The minor cuts on his arms and legs were nothing compared to it. Jolee had kept his left hand there to prevent blood from spilling, but he was on the cusp of death and he knew it. "Oh no," whispered Revan who was close to tears at the moment and still tightly gripping Jolee's hand. "Let me at that wound."

He began to charge up a bit of Force energy to clean and mend the wound in Jolee's stomach, but Jolee let go of his stomach and grabbed Revan's hand, stopping him. "It's too late…for me, son…"

"No!" cried Revan. "Don't think like that. You're going to make it! I look to be bored by many more stories of yours; just let me help!"

"Please…" said Jolee frailly. "It's okay…I can accept this. I've been…waiting for death to come and claim me for a while. Besides…" Jolee coughed up a bit of blood that hit Revan's clothing. "I'm no longer part of your crew…"

"Yes you are," said Revan with a few tears streaming down his face. "I shouldn't have let you stay behind! I'm sorry!"

"Oh stop it…" said Jolee grumpily. "I'm dying…and it's okay." For another moment the two simply looked at each other, their hands still tightly clasped together, while blood was slowly oozing down Jolee's lower torso. "I struck him down…long time ago. Then I struck him down again…and then he got back up…and killed me."

"Who?" pleaded Revan. "Who did this to you? Was the guy…human?" Jolee gave Revan an odd look and then spat out some more blood from his mouth. He lightly nodded, which then Revan understood that it was not the True Sith who were involved in this. "Who then! Where is he now? Give me a name; give me a place; anything! Come on old man! If you won't let me save you, then at least give me this!"

"The Sith…they're back…they killed the Elders." Jolee coughed up more blood. "Revan!" he grunted. "I…don't have a lot of time left. My body is broken…and I'm slowly passing from this world…to the next. Aargh!" Jolee yelled again as he felt another lurch of pain in his stomach. "They…they're striking from…Malachor V. That…academy you found a while back."

"Jolee…" said Revan, but Jolee interrupted. He had let go of Revan's hands and clasped his sweaty and bloody hands on Revan's cheeks and pulled the left side of his head closer to him.

"Listen!" panted Jolee as he coughed again. "Only one thing…is going to get you through this safely…" he whispered. "Love…" Revan widened his eyes but did not speak. "Remember what I said…love will save you, not condemn you. Your…" Jolee spat up a bit more blood and then continued. "Your love for Bastila…keep it…and never let it go."

"You…you knew!" whispered Revan astounded. Jolee nodded.

"And…I told no one." Jolee coughed more as he began to slightly laugh. "Only an old man like me…who knows a thing or two about love…could have figured it out." Revan smiled back at Jolee but more tears were flowing down his face. "It's okay, boy…" continued Jolee. "The life you have…don't waste it. Don't…waste…"

These were Jolee's last words, as he stared at Revan one more time and gasped as his life began to fade away. As he took his last few breaths, he touched Revan's forehead, and suddenly Revan felt a surge of energy blast into his head and swirl around in his brain.

There was searing pain in Revan's body, as if Jolee had just touched his eye with a hot poker, but at the same time, he could feel a batch of energy floating around in his head, like electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom. Revan felt like screaming, but somehow his thoughts averted him away. More memories began to fill his head and the visions of these flashed before his eyes at a blindingly fast speed, but for Revan, he could vividly see each one in full detail. The glorious victory at Althir, Revan's discovery of the Trayus Academy on Malachor V, the battle itself, and the first speech he made as Darth Revan immediately thereafter instantly came to life as more recent events of Revan's past.

Revan panted heavily as he took another look at Jolee. Though this felt like hours, it had been less than a few seconds. Jolee had closed his eyes and his life had expired. Revan held Jolee in his arms and shed tear after tear on the shoulder of his deceased friend. As he did so, Jolee's body disappeared and his spirit became one with the Force.

Revan was feeling a massive array of various emotions at this moment. There was much negative potent energy swelling within him. He was far from cheerful, even after drying the tears from his face. He was mournful of his friend, and there was a feeling of guilt aroused within him. He felt horrible that he was not able to sense Jolee's pain and despair so that he could have come to his rescue earlier. He was angry at the True Sith, but most of all he was confused. Jolee had just touched Revan's mind and restored some memories. This was the second time Revan had experienced this in one big shot, but what did this mean?

"_AARGH!_" he yelled in frustration. "_AAARGH!_"

Lena, Yuthura, and Dustil had been standing behind Revan enough of a distance away to not crowd either of them. Revan's yell of frustration somehow gave Lena a hint of what Revan was about to do next. She gently grabbed Yuthura and Dustil's shoulders and began slowly pulling them away, turning them around and walking back. She kept her hands on their shoulders as she went with them, but she turned her head back once to see Revan, who was facing the other way.

In his state of being, Revan's skin pores were fuming and ventilating energy, forming a thick white aura around him. Like the aura he subconsciously created at the fight with Darth Malak, it surrounded his body and filled him up with adrenaline, even as the grains of sand on the beach began to rise into the air around him.

In a single loud roar, Revan knelt down and slammed his bare fist into the ground. The sheer power of the Force channeled through his muscles caused a massive ripple in the sands. Millions of grains of sand and sediment flew in all directions. A massive black crater formed in the ground around Revan, but the shockwave went forward and toward the crashed and withered Republic hammerhead class ship that was stuck in the water. The force of the shockwave was so strong that it made a channel through the water until it reached the ship and shot it off the ground and out of the water, into the air.

With a large amount of energy still left in his body, Revan used the Force and caught the ship in midair. As he held it, the power of the Force tightened the grip on the ship. Revan's muscles glowed and flexed and his eyes were glowing pure white. The ship began to violently shake in the air. Lena, Dustil, and Yuthura had stopped as they heard the thundering noise of the ship's withering. With a final jolt of energy, Revan tightly clenched his fists and the starship exploded and all that was left of it was vaporized.

Dustil and Yuthura stared in shock at the audacity of this action, but Lena had no expression. She felt that she understood Revan's anger, but hoped that Revan would then let it go, considering that their next stop would be Malachor V; a planet in which the very air was corruptive to even the most unwilling soul.

As the sand in the air fell back to the ground around him, Revan turned and moved towards the other three.

"Don't make any jokes Dustil," whispered Yuthura, and Dustil simply nodded.

"Alright," said Revan. "We're done here. The Sith that the Jedi and Republic have been looking for are striking from Malachor V, and that's where we're going."

"But…" began Yuthura.

"No buts," said Revan intensely. "There is no lingering and no insubordination right now. There is the next mission; Malachor V. We're going and we're going now. Get back to the ship and get her ready."

Yuthura and Dustil took a glance at Lena who was beginning to move with them. "Don't look at me," said Lena innocently. "He's calling the shots."

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

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_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	16. Chapter 15: Spacewalking

**Part I**

**Out of the Blue, Into the Black

* * *

**

**Chapter 15**

** Spacewalking

* * *

**

The ramp was closed and the engines began to purr. With Dustil sitting in the copilot seat, Lena lifted the Ebon Hawk off the ground and then blasted it into the skies.

Revan was keeping to himself in the port dormitory, while Yuthura was lifting weights in the cargo hold.

"Takeoff was always my favorite part of flying," said Dustil with a grin. "It's exhilarating, isn't it?"

"Mine too," said Lena who returned the smile. "We're clearing Rakata Prime airspace. Calculating the jump to light speed…"

After a few minutes, the calculations were complete. "May I?" requested Dustil.

Lena smiled again. "Go for it." Dustil slowly pulled the central lever backward and the Ebon Hawk entered the blue vortex of hyperspace.

"I wish Jolee didn't go like that," said Dustil. "In that, I sort of wish that his body didn't just disappear the way it did, so we could have respectfully cremated him. Know what I mean?"

"Don't fret about it," said Lena. "He became one with the Force. It's the best kind of death. His spirit will remain ever so potent and move on to another body. The Force keeps such things alive. I know Revan will miss him though."

"He'll be okay…right?"

"He will be."

"So Malachor V…" said Dustil to change the subject. "You've been there?"

"Yeah," said Lena somberly.

"What's it like?"

"Not exactly a tourist attraction," said Lena. "It's a pretty nasty place. Why do you want to know? I mean…you're going to see it eventually."

"I know," said Dustil. "But aside from trying to make small talk, I thought I'd get to know you better, and then maybe brace myself for that place."

Lena chuckled. "You're a good kid. Stay that way, will you?"

"Revan doesn't seem to notice me," said Dustil with a downtrodden expression. "I just…I really want to help."

"He just doesn't know you very well," said Lena. "He may still be a little distant, given first impressions, but I'm sure you'll get the chance. If you're good at something, Revan will pick up on it and he'll use it. He's a very methodical and practical person in that way."

"I just feel a bit useless," said Dustil. "Back on Rakata Prime, I made a little joke, and Revan just shut me down."

"Don't worry about it," said Lena. "Revan generally doesn't care about those kinds of things. He's probably forgotten all about that. And you aren't useless. I will probably vouch for you and Yuthura when the time comes. But hey, you've got some aptitude for flying, right?"

"I guess," said Dustil. "But I don't want to be just a pilot."

"Then what exactly are you looking for? I hope you aren't here to just to be a clown?" asked Lena. "And I ask this, because if you want a prayer of coming with us into the Unknown Regions, you'll need to know exactly what you want for yourself, and what you can offer us."

"Yeah I get it," said Dustil. "I mean…I don't completely know. When I was training on Korriban, Master Uthar, that son of a bitch Master Uthar; he constantly praised me and repeatedly stated how much potential I have. After Revan and Carth showed me that I had been played for a fool, I got the hell out of there as soon as I could. He lied to me about Selene, but somehow I just have this feeling that maybe he was telling me the truth about me having a lot of potential and all. I really think that's why I want to go so badly. I'm hoping to get something out of this, as well as repay Revan for the favor."

Lena chuckled again. "Both the Sith and the Jedi have their ways of sprinkling the truth in the lies they spread. When the details of their stories check out, they become more credible. That's how they're so good at indoctrination."

"Yeah," said Dustil. "But the Jedi are still overall good people, right? I mean, they aren't selfish with their powers, and they care about others."

"The best of the Jedi most definitely do, no doubt," said Lena. "But you ought to be careful and take what they say with a grain of salt. Basic law; something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

"Yeah I guess," said Dustil as he shrugged his shoulders. "It's a little pessimistic, but trust is something you can rarely find."

Lena and Dustil stretched back in their seats to relax, when Yuthura came in. She was completely covered in her own sweat and slightly panting. "Revan still sulking back there?" she asked.

"Give him a little time," said Lena. "He'll be alright."

"I still don't understand this," said Yuthura. "I mean…I met Jolee once. Revan told me he was a slave, and Jolee played along."

"Well obviously he wasn't a slave," said Dustil.

"I know," said Yuthura. "But I mean…Jolee must have really meant something to Revan to make him do what he did."

"That was insane," said Dustil. "I mean…that crater he made in the sand is probably going to last for decades…not to mention the way he killed that old Republic ship."

"And you didn't even bat an eyelash," said Yuthura to Lena.

Lena looked back at her and then shrugged her shoulders. "I mean…I remember what Revan was like during the Mandalorian War. My time with him afterward was cut short as you know, but there is a kind of darkness inside him. He was wont to let it out back in the old days, but I think Revan understands that he can't afford to burst out like that…especially at a place like Malachor."

"It was impressive and all," said Yuthura. "But I hope you're right."

"Well," said Lena yawning. "Malachor V isn't for a good three days. I'm going to go for a nap. Please don't touch anything…oh and don't let Revan touch anything either. I wouldn't trust him with a ship like this as far as I could throw him."

"But you probably _can_ throw him…and probably pretty far," said Dustil wittingly.

Lena yawned again and then smiled. "Touché."

* * *

_Above the world of Telos IV…_

Senator Alek Neeson, a senior member of the Liberal Party and longtime representative of Telos IV landed with his escort in the priority Republic Headquarters hanger on Citadel Station to find the chairman of the executive board of Aratech Corporation Warriv Lima greeting him, and Carth Onasi also present in the room.

"Warriv!" cheered Neeson. "How wonderful it is to see you again." They shook hands.

"Likewise Senator," said Warriv with a big fat smile. "This is Captain Onasi, surely you two have met before."

"Indeed we have," said Neeson, extending out his hand again. "What's the CEO of Aratech doing here? You didn't fly all the way from Corellia just to greet me, did you?"

"Guilty as charged," said Warriv. "The board is on recess, and I like to be as hands-on as possible. So I figured, why not?"

Carth moved forward and spoke. "How have you been sir?"

"Oh, when you get to my age son, you'll find yourself living and treasuring every moment of your life. Hah! Not like I have many years left anyway!" The three of them laughed together as they began walking. Carth led the way, and the other two followed despite being distracted by their conversation.

"So, I trust everything on the Republic's special project is running smoothly?" said Neeson. "That is after all why I am here."

Carth led them into the elevator and it began rocketing downwards into the basement of the Republic headquarters.

"Strange that the Republic chose a senior senator to inspect this," replied Warriv. "I would have thought the Inspector General's office would be all over this."

"The IG office has enough on their plate," said Neeson.

The elevator door opened and the three of them entered the science labs. There were computers and monitors everywhere, along with hundreds of tubes, microscopes, Bunsen burners and pricey pieces of lab equipment.

"We've had Aratech's best people working on this for quite some time and Carth has been personally overseeing the project," said Warriv. "We finished just a few days ago."

"I assume that this new machine is advanced enough to be moderate in terms of size but nonetheless effective in its programming?" asked Neeson.

"I would say so," said Carth.

"Aratech's efficiency rating has always been at the top of the ranks," said Warriv. "And believe me, this was a job well done."

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Neeson. He smiled again. "But I'm sure I won't be disappointed."

"Right this way sir," said Carth.

They entered a second laboratory that was identical to the first, but in the corner of the room, three scientists in white lab coats were standing at full attention, waiting for Senator Neeson's arrival.

"So let's see it!" exclaimed Neeson.

The head scientist pressed a few buttons and entered a secret unlock code and a set of double doors that appeared to be part of the wall at first glance opened up. Behind the doors was a motionless machine, floating in midair. This droid was perfectly round and its diameter was a full meter wide. From a human perspective, this was a large droid, but it was very well put together, compact with secure wiring on the inside and state of the art armor plating, as well as radiation shields. A scientist hit another button and the sensor on the northern hemisphere of the droid suddenly turned on and flashed a bright red color.

"Senator Neeson, thanks to the generous funding, we are proud to do this in service to the Republic, and I personally would like to introduce you to the new chief mechanical aid of planetary and infrastructure reconstruction, programmed to follow only two specific guidelines; rebuild the Republic to the best of his ability, and follow all the laws legislated by the Republic Senate."

"You said "his"," said Neeson. "Am I supposed to refer to this…droid as a male?"

"This droid is about as human as you could get, despite the fact that it looks like a big fat black metal orb," interjected Carth.

"That's right," said Warriv. "His name is G0-T0. And I trust he will serve you, and the Republic with the utmost loyalty and dedication."

"Most impressive," said Neeson. "Tell me more about him..."

* * *

_Three days later…_

Revan sat in the cargo hold meditating, the parts of his two lightsabers floating in front of him; the parts rearranging and moving around at his will. Lena slow walked into the cargo hold and sat in front of Revan.

"Hey..." Lena said as she sat down. "I just came to check up on you."

"Thanks but I'm fine." Revan said flatly with his eyes still closed.

"I'm just being...cautious I guess. Where we're going…Malachor V," she paused. "You need to be careful Revan. I know what you just went through but you have to let it go. On Malachor with that kind of thing weighing on your mind..." Lena shifted slightly "You'll get eaten alive down there, even someone as strong as you."

"I would say the same to you Lena." Revan said as his lightsabers came back together and he opened his eyes. "You're not exactly at peace yourself right now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Lena defensively.

"You were one of the few to come out of the battle relatively unscathed," said Revan. "But you lost Arren Kae here. I know what she meant to you. Am I wrong to presume such?"

Lena sighed and shifted closer to Revan. "Not entirely…no."

"Didn't think so."

"It's just odd coming back here after all this time. I thought and hoped I would never have to see this place again. It makes me think of a time when we were…less than enjoyable company."

"You're thinking about the war again," perceived Revan.

"Thinking about Arren," responded Lena. "Not a day goes by when I don't think about her, or look to her for guidance. She was like my mother."

"It's not fair what happened to her," said Revan. "I liked her. She was so different from the other Jedi. She was more her own person; didn't feel like she had to be a mindless robot to be a real Jedi."

"And it's rubbed off quite a bit on me," said Lena. "And since she's been gone, I've hated Malachor V for it."

"Looks like you've got your own monsters you need to get rid of before we land," said Revan.

"Well that was very perceptive of you, pointing out my own issues and all," said Lena. "But I'm even more concerned about you."

Revan sighed. "It's just…all my friends have experienced such a tremendous loss of a loved one. Bastila lost her father, Carth lost his wife, Juhani lost both her parents, and Mission might as well have lost her brother. They've all described to me their thoughts and feelings about it; but all I could do was listen and nod my head because the only thing I ever came close to losing was myself, and I had no memory of it. Now I've lost someone close to me for real, and I finally understand their pain. I just wish they were here right now to comfort me the way I must have comforted them."

Lena put her hand on Revan's shoulder and smirked. "Well as I've said before. At the very least, you have me. I'm your partner till the end."

"And here's the weird part," said Revan. "We both know what's waiting for us at Malachor V, and yet neither of us can be fully prepared for what's to come."

"Just like life sometimes," said Lena. "Filled with jagged edges and moving parts, most of which you won't see coming until they've smacked you in the head."

"Very wise," Revan replied with a smirk.

"We're coming out of hyperspace!" yelled Dustil. Revan and Lena immediately bolted to the cockpit as Malachor V immediately came into view.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah," staccatoed Lena. "The front seat is mine." Revan smirked and conceded with a simple hand gesture.

The raging mystic abomination that was Malachor V struck a combination of awe and horror to the entire crew. Though Revan had regained the memory of what he did so long ago, it seemed to hit him again. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he flashed back to his memories of the duel he had with Mandalore the Ultimate aboard their flagship. Lena felt a small amount of sweat on her brow, for she too remembered the sight of thousands perishing in that single moment. She gave Revan a look to see if he was doing alright, but Revan was gazing out at space.

"Hey," she whispered. Revan looked at her. "You alright?"

"I will be," said Revan, trying to put on a face for Dustil and Yuthura. "I just…I remember it Lena. I remember the end of the war, and I'm not even sure if I can blame the Jedi for being upset at this."

"We had to do it," said Lena. "We both know there was no other way we could have ended that war."

"I know," he replied. "It's just…even I have doubts…especially at a time like this."

"It's what makes us human," said Lena. "Just don't let it consume you." Revan nodded, seeing the wisdom in her words, and then looked back at Dustil and Yuthura whose eyes were completely transfixed on the planet, not paying attention to their side conversation.

The planet had been exactly as it was after the war. It was a dark potato shaped world with a big viridian aura of ravaging energies circling about it. Even after over five years, this planet was still reeling from the effects of the Mass Shadow Generator. Aside from the thick clouds and raging storms that consumed the night skies, Dustil and Yuthura were also amazed by all the flotsam and space junk that were rotating about, far away from the gravity field of Malachor. Most of them were parts of ships that were broken apart or disengaged. It was like looking at a large space junkyard. They were literally objects in space, facing in the direction of the black and essentially immobile.

"So this is where the war ended…" said Yuthura. "By the Force, this is…I don't even know how to describe it."

"My father fought here…" said Dustil. "In the few occasions I saw him, I asked him about the war. This was the one battle that he _never_ talked about."

"Commentary: Master, I must admit that your performance at Malachor V humbles my circuits and makes me all the more proud to serve you."

"Uh, thanks HK," replied Revan who was thinking to himself: "_This droid just might be a little too sadistic…despite his amusing gestures._"

Lena put the ship on standby and moved into the main hold with the rest of the crew. A large schematic of Malachor V as well as some of the space junk outside it appeared on the holotransmitter in the middle.

"Any idea how we're going to get down there?" asked Dustil.

"We'd be stupid to take the Ebon Hawk in for a landing," said Lena.

"It was easier back when the Republic was with us," said Revan.

"We used the pods right?"

"Yeah," said Revan. Looking back at Dustil, he felt the need to explain himself. "When we all gathered back on the planet, I had everyone relocate to my flagship _The Legacy_. The ship was stabilized at a high altitude above the planet and we all dropped pods down. We used the same pods to get back up, using my ship's gravitational pull.

"A class 3 stealth cobra, to be precise," said Lena. "Similar make to a Basilisk War Droid, except without weapons and with a stealth reactor that could drop a platoon of soldiers quietly. During the war, we used them to land on the surface of Althir."

"And as I said, we used them to get on and off Malachor V."

"That must have taken a while," said Yuthura.

"Faster than you think," said Lena.

"Well it's not like we can float the Ebon Hawk over the planet and drop downward…right?" said Dustil.

"No, but we may be able to salvage some of that space junk to make one," said Revan.

"We'll move her a little closer, and then drop the pod down."

"That's a little easier said than done," said Lena.

"Yeah…" replied Revan. "Too bad we don't know anyone who's good with engines…" he began to smile.

"Who?" said Dustil. "T3?" Revan frowned.

"I am too…" he replied in a somber tone, making Dustil flush in embarrassment.

"Oh…sorry."

"There's still one problem," said Yuthura. "How do we get back up?"

"There's probably dozens of ships down there," said Lena. "I don't think that's going to be as challenging, but the planet's full of surprises…not in a good way though."

"Alright, well if we're going to build one, we're going to have to find a way to get out there and get the parts," said Revan. "I have three space suits stowed away in the cargo hold."

"Okay, but it's not like we can open the ramp and walk out," said Yuthura. "That'd suck all the air out."

"Not if we seal off the garage," said Dustil. Suddenly T3-M4 began letting out a flurry of beeping and garbling while looking at Revan.

"How can that be?" replied Revan. "We only have one floor!" T3-M4 beeped in affirmation and continued.

"What's he saying?" asked Dustil.

"He says we have an elevator, right over there." Revan pointed to the ladder that led to the quadlasers. "How the hell didn't I know about this?" T3-M4 replied with more beeping.

"You just found out…alright whatever. I guess that's our way out. HK, go get two of the space suits; code is Red 47."

"Reply: Yes Master." The floor clanked with every step as HK-47 walked out of the room.

"Ok, I think we ought to send T3-M4, HK-47, Lena, and Dustil to get the parts. I'll bring the ship a little closer and…"

"Sorry Revan I can't let you do that," said Lena.

"I've been watching you fly, and I used to watch Carth do it. How hard could it be?"

"You're the captain. That means you don't fly the ship. I do. Besides…even _I_ don't trust you with this baby."

"You're no fun…" said Revan. "Fine, I'll go with Dustil and the droids. Lena you keep the ship steady. Yuthura, I want you to wait at the bottom of the elevator and whatever parts we bring down, I need you to get them off and move them into the garage. Lena you help her if you have to."

"Aye aye, captain," said Yuthura who was rather amused. As she said that, HK-47 returned with the suits.

"Lena, go back to the cockpit and start slowly moving her forward. T3, you and HK-47 take the elevator up. Dustil and I will be up soon." Everyone nodded and moved about the cabin. Revan and Dustil began suiting up.

"Ever spacewalked before?" Revan asked to Dustil.

"Nope," said Dustil. "Is it fun?"

"Well, last time I did it, I was walking on a platform. Floating, I imagine will be a little different." As they finished suiting up, they felt the ship come to a stop.

"We're pretty close to some of the junk," said Lena. "Good luck."

"Thanks," said Revan and Dustil in unison. They walked over to the elevator.

"I'm not sure how this thing works," said Revan. "T3, lower the elevator." Revan heard a series of beeps through his communicator and looked up. The elevator was coming right down where he was standing. "Dustil, move back just a little bit," he said as he did the same. The platform came down and blended with the floor tile itself. "Man I feel stupid right now," said Revan humorously.

"Will you get over yourself already?" said Dustil. Revan couldn't see it but Dustil was secretly laughing to himself. Revan pressed a button and the elevator began to rise to the top. The hatches above opened and then shut as they passed through.

"Alright," said Revan. "T3, upload all your knowledge of a Class 5 Charlie Cable Air Pod into HK's memory banks." T3-M4 beeped in acknowledgment and plugged himself into HK-47's circuits.

"Precautionary: Master, please tell the little metal canister to be careful when dealing with my circuits. I would hate for something awful to happen to me…uh I mean him." T3-M4 beeped angrily at HK-47 as he pulled out and then rolled away facing the black. As he did so, Revan thought to himself.

"_It seems I have more amusement amongst my crew than I know what to do with_."

"Statement: Oh Master that was truly petrifying for my behavioral core! However, his knowledge has been uploaded to me. I now know what parts to look for.

"Query: Now are there any other horrors you wish to inject into my well-built and perfect circuitry, or is your performance of electronic slaughter completed?"

"That would be a negative," said Revan. "Now get out there, and look for the parts. Any parts that we need, as well as any large pieces of metal you think we could use, let us know. We'll get the parts back here. T3, you stay here and operate the elevator. As soon as we get a piece to you, bring it down to Yuthura. Dustil, you come with me."

For nearly two hours, HK-47 floated around the junkyard scanning every item to see if it could be used. Revan and Dustil were surprised as to how successful they actually were at obtaining them. Once the droid would find a piece, he gave the signal to them and with the Force, they pulled the object close to them. Revan did most of the pulling, but Dustil guided Lena whenever they needed to bring the ship closer. Though space was sometimes a problem, T3-M4 was able to get all the parts down to Yuthura and when the salvaging was done, they regrouped back at the elevator and took it down to the Main Hold.

"Nice work team," said Revan. "Lena, I think I've misjudged them."

"I'll say," said Lena. "How'd you learn to be so precise in your maneuvering calculations Dustil?"

"My father taught me to fly, remember?" The crew laughed as Revan and T3-M4 began working on the pod.

In another hour, the pod was finished, though slightly smaller than the originals.

"This has got to be the dumbest looking vehicle I've ever seen," said Lena.

"There was no other way I could make it to hold three people." Lena rolled her eyes.

"You just love making it difficult for yourself don't you," said Lena.

"What do you mean?" said Revan, wiping the sweat from his brow as he put away the tools.

"You're taking just two people with you again…like you did on the Star Forge and everywhere before except Rakata Prime."

"Hey," said Revan defensively. "Malachor V is a nasty place and the Trayus Academy has some pretty tight corridors if memory serves. You know that just like I do."

"I'm going to be making fun of you for this for a long time."

"You do that," growled Revan. "But you're coming with me. So are you T3."

"Yeah it's probably better for Dustil and Yuthura that they don't come. Why not HK?"

"I'd rather not confront anyone if I can help it. I'd prefer our presence to be silent. T3's a lot easier to shut up than HK is. Plus…I might need him to gather some information."

"I'm just glad you're getting smarter and not getting softer. You will need it, otherwise we will end up like rats in a dark cellar." Revan smirked in agreement. "There's just one small problem."

"What is it?"

"The seat belts aren't working. Be prepared for a concussion or two."

"Great," said Revan sarcastically.

After loading up the pod and relaying his orders to the other three, Revan, Lena, and T3-M4 entered the pod and shut the airlock door. Dustil moved the ship closer to the planet without getting caught in the gravitational pull.

"This is as far as I can go," he said. "Good luck!"

"Copy that!" said Revan. Dustil briefly shut down the main life support system in the garage to save oxygen and then sealed it off. HK-47 pushed the entire pod outward, and it began to pick up speed as it dropped toward the surface. As the ramp closed, Dustil reengaged the life support. The garage was kept closed with HK-47 inside.

"They'll be fine, don't you worry." said Yuthura while patting Dustil on the back. He glanced back at her.

"I've just got a very bad feeling about this."

* * *

**End of Part I: Out of the Blue, Into the Black**

* * *

_Thank you for continuing to follow with our story. Word of warning, the next chapter has a slightly controversial amount of graphic violence - meaning that it pushes the T rating. Get pumped!_

_Please review our story,_

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	17. Chapter 16: Rats in the Cellar

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy  


* * *

Chapter 16  
**

**Rats in the Cellar

* * *

**

The Class V Charlie Cable Air Pod fell with incredible speed, being sucked into the gravitational pull of Malachor V. There was little Lena could do to pilot it, except lock onto the Trayus Academy's heat receptors to pinpoint its location on the planet. With luck, the pod would land right on the roof of the building, and then the trek would be rock climbing down to the bottom.

This was going to be a heavily dangerous journey, and after seeing Malachor V from the outside, neither Revan nor Lena looked forward to walking on the surface of the planet again. As the pod fell, both Revan and Lena contemplated the plan that they had drafted. It was fairly simple; perhaps even too simple. Go in, access the computer labs and technological mainframe, hack the system and search for the hidden files that revealed the information that Revan discovered so long ago and barely remembered, download them into T3-M4's memory bank, and then get out of there, either by repairing a crashed ship, or by stealing a Sith vessel. Getting in would be easy, getting out would be difficult, for this entire plan hinged on secrecy and stealth, and most of all hope; hope that everyone there wouldn't be expecting them, and hope that the layout of the academy had not changed since last time.

Revan and Lena had both dressed themselves up identically. They wore a classical dark Jedi garb with their usual belts for their lightsabers. Instead of boots, they wore soft black shoes for stealth. They knew that if they had worn their usual clothing, they would be identified as intruders instantly.

As the pod dropped from the clouds and penetrated the thick and violent clouds of the scorched skies, the outer layer of it began to heat up. It was holding together, but those on the inside could feel the heat begin to rise. Revan and Lena were sweating profusely, for it was a thrilling ride, but a highly anxious and intense drop into action. The uncomfortable silence within the pod was masked by the loud roars of the engines of the pod as well as the roar of the stormy Malachor atmosphere.

"T3!" yelled Lena through the vibrant noise, still trying to stay conscious from the G's. The droid beeped in affirmation. "Initiate anti-gravitational thrusters; slow this baby down!"

The droid did so immediately and everyone felt a slight jump inside the pod that caused a lurch in their stomachs. Revan had been feeling lightheaded since the drop, and had finally passed out from the G's. Lena was barely conscious but only because she was used to this. Space travel was always of interest to her, which was why she was wont to immediately volunteer to fly the Ebon Hawk, instead of having to go out of the way to spend the money on a mercenary pilot.

The synced computer screen with the data was the only exciting thing to observe in the pod, for the numbers were moving rapidly. Their altitude at this point was well over four kilometers above the surface, and the temperature of the pod was increasing. The force of the pod's fall was approximately at mach three; well beyond the speed of sound. The outside temperature was getting warmer, but the surface of Malachor V was very cold. It was no ice world like Hoth, but the energies channeled from the core provided no heat, and there were no greenhouse gases creating any kind of atmospheric shield to keep the heat in. The nearest sun was eighty million kilometers away, so the surface was just barely habitable.

With the thrusters below the pod combating the air pressure of the planet, the speed of the pod slowly began to wane. T3-M4 slowly increased the intensity of the thrusters from twenty percent to a higher speed, as the pod came closer to the planet.

"Take it up to sixty percent on the thrusters and raise the flaps!" Lena shouted, and once again T3-M4 obliged.

The gravitational pull was more intense than they had initially thought. The jetpack thrusters were doing their job of slowing the pod down, and the pod was bound for the top of the Trayus Academy, but at their present velocity, it would smash down on the roof and explode upon impact, creating a shockwave that would likely burn a hole all the way down to the Trayus Core.

This building was absolutely massive. It spanned dozens of stories high and at the very middle of it was the Trayus Core. The core of the planet was a harbinger of the dark side of the Force, and its energies had corrupted the planet long before it was brought to the brink of absolute vaporization five years ago by the power of the Mass Shadow Generator. The energies flowed in a set of currents through the academy like blood from a beating heart, and the large round gap at the top of the building was its exit, very similar to an air hole located at the very top of an igloo.

The air pod's anti-gravity thrusters were now firing at sixty percent, and Lena could feel the pod slowing down quite a bit. They were barely off the roof of the academy, as they had been dropped perfectly down upon it. With the slowing of the pod, it was how hovering just a few meters above the Trayus Academy.

"Alright," said Lena. "Easy T3, lower her down…forty percent…now thirty." She spoke as T3-M4 did so, slowly allowing the pod to sink closer towards the roof, but careful enough so that no thud is made. "Ten percent…five…two…easy…easy…"

T3-M4 whistled loudly in annoyance to Lena's bickering, as if it was an insult to its own intelligence, which was superior in the technological field to that of any other astromech utility droid. The pod landed on the roof of the building and barely made a sound. Lena smiled and nodded as she unstrapped her seat belt and then did the same for T3-M4. As the droid unlocked the door of the pod, Lena shifted over to Revan who was still unconscious from the G's.

"Revan," she sang into his ear, hoping to wake him. "Revan!" she said again, but Revan still wouldn't budge. Lena took off her glove and slapped him hard across the face with it. Revan awoke immediately.

"Ow," he said somewhat mildly.

"Good, you're up," said Lena with a smile.

"What the hell?" growled Revan. "Did I pass out?"

"Yup," chided Lena with a grin. "I guess the G's were a little too much for you."

Revan unstrapped himself and leaned forward, but somehow felt a bit light headed. "Urgh," he said. "I feel like my liver and appendix just switched places." Lena laughed and T3-M4 let out another series of happy chirps of hysteria. "Gee, thanks," said Revan coldly.

"Shake it off," said Lena. "We're on the rooftop of the Trayus Academy, and I don't know my way around inside; only you do." They stepped outside of the pod and stood atop the roof, looking around the planet.

"Just gimme a sec…" said Revan while flexing the muscles in his face, trying to ease the seeming hangover.

The appearance of the planet had not changed since last time. The surface still possessed a dark viridian tint and the raging skies were filled with thunder and lightning, and yet no rain fell. The planet was dead; scarce of natural food and water. Only large storm beasts roamed the surface menacingly. Comparatively, the Trayus Academy looked like civilization, as the single man-built structure of sanity and shelter. But after looking down from the very top towards the Trayus Core and the pit of despair, it was hardly such.

"Alright," said Revan. "There's enough interference at this altitude to have masked our descent. Even with the thud, I don't think they'll suspect an intrusion just yet. T3 can upload a schematic of the building at the security mainframe, which is located at the middle level. This building is sixty stories high, but the layout is fairly consistent, except for the lower levels closer to the core. If we play this right, we will only have to cross the core once, and that's to get to the auxiliary hanger bay."

"Why not just use the main one?" asked Lena.

"The main hanger bay is used for large freighter ships, like missile frigates," said Revan.

"We'd never be able to sneak a slow piece of shit like that out of here. The auxiliary bay has all the fighters and small shuttles, with stealth inhibitors and fast turbo thrusters to dodge their defenses on the way out."

"I still think it would be more fun to take a missile frigate out of here," chided Lena. "But it's your call."

"Don't worry," said Revan as he yanked a large round piece of metal off the crashed pod. "Do you know what the ratio of perfectly executed plans is?"

"One in a million?"

"And that fraction is a hell of a lot smaller when you're down at a place like this. This is the plan, but if shit hits the fan, you'd better be ready."

"Oh I will be," said Lena with another grin. "Don't you worry. This is just like old times for me."

Revan ignited Heart of the Guardian and began cutting a large hole in the floor of the roof. After a large enough gap was created, he slowly pulled the circular tile up and they came in, bringing T3-M4 with them through the Force, which the astromech droid giddily enjoyed.

They stealthily made their way down the corridor and over to the stairs while the droid took the elevator. T3-M4 was equipped with his usual shock arm, allowing it to maintain itself against others for a short time. After thirty stories of descending with no one in the way, they proceeded down the hallway, this time passing a few small groups of people. A subsection of the north hallway was diverted into a narrower hallway that led straight to the mainframe, passing only dormitories and offices. Revan and Lena kept their heads down to avoid the security cameras scrolling and zooming over the corridors from the ceiling. For now, they were blended.

Lena and Revan used the Force very cautiously here, channeling their energies into their mind, always thinking and perceiving their surroundings. If there was even the slightest chance that their presence was detected, they would be swarmed and fighting for their lives in the most dangerous environment ever possible. The good thing was, they were away from all of the excitement. The Trayus Crescent, Proving Grounds, Beast Pen, Meditation Chambers, and Core Platform were all located at the very bottom of the school. They were at the higher points of the building, and it had the appearance of a robotic institution.

Each being inside was either a soldier, officer, dark Jedi, or Sith apprentice. They all knew how to fight and they all had some type of role that they would execute methodically. The bread and butter of the Sith was the Star Forge when Malak was in command. Now that he was dead, the new foundation of the Sith Order was here. Though none of them had any knowledge of the existence of the True Sith, this was dangerous, and Revan knew that it was more than likely he and/or Lena would come out of this with some kind of scar…that is if they came out at all.

"I see the mainframe entrance," whispered Lena to Revan and T3-M4 as another group of people passed them. "I sense three men in there…hmm."

"You want this one?" conjured Revan.

"Yes please," begged Lena somewhat sarcastically. "Stay out here for just a second."

Revan nodded as he and T3-M4 stopped at the corner to the door while Lena continued. As she approached, she removed her belt and concealed it in her robe. She loosened the strings on both sides, allowing a bit of skin on her chest to be shown somewhat provocatively but not too much. She then Force opened the door.

The three men in the room immediately turned to see the newcomer and their eyes began to bulge as though they had been deprived for years.

"Pardon me, my boys," said Lena with a smile. "But I believe one of my bras was stolen from me while I was in the shower. If you could show me the security feed so I could find the son of a bitch and rip his head off…I'd really show my appreciation."

The men all looked at each other and each one of them slowly began to smile as if a dream just came through. "Well okay then…" said one of them. Two of them slowly came over from both sides and placed their hands upon her shoulders gently while the other began entering a code on the computers. Lena flipped the two back ends of her head around lightly as the two men beside her came closer almost to the point of rubbing up against her.

"Oh my," said Lena. "I believe my shallowness has reached an all time low." With a blindingly fast motion, she side kicked the two men's shins and then front flipped in the air, kicking both of them in the face and knocking them out cold. Before the other could turn around, Lena was on him. She grabbed his hair with one hand and his jaw with the other and cranked his head sideways, snapping his neck.

Revan and T3-M4 had heard the light noise from the outside. "That's our cue," he said. They entered and with one of the cards, they sealed the door behind shut.

"Okay, T3 plug yourself into the mainframe and upload a schematic of the building. We need to find out if anything has changed."

The droid squeaked in affirmation and plugged in. After five seconds, it displayed a holographic schematic in the air.

"The basement and ground floor near the core hasn't changed," said Lena.

"I can't see any significant changes in any part of this building," replied Revan. "Looks like they just kept it the way it was when I found it."

"Do you know exactly what you're looking for?"

"I need to find out the intentions of these new Sith," said Revan. "But more importantly, there's a code fragment downloaded on a ghost drive in this computer terminal that one of the engineers wrote for me right before the battle. T3, can you try to find it?"

T3-M4 began scrolling rapidly through the mainframe computer while Revan and Lena watched. "What was it?"

"The computer engineer who wrote that code did it because he was secretly navigating the Mandalorian Battle Network, trying to pick up any kind of chatter near the planet Mandalore. The Mandalorians had jammed our sensors in that region, but he managed to find a workaround. While he was searching, he picked up one message that was Mandalore himself talking to someone else. That's how I found out what I knew about the True Sith, but I don't remember the details of the message. I'm hoping you can help me understand it better."

"What happened to the engineer?"

"I killed him because he knew too much."

"I see," said Lena in a bit of a grunting tone. "It was probably for the best."

"You say it like it wasn't a big deal," said Revan. "Was it really justified?"

"I don't know; I wasn't there," said Lena. "Do you think it was justified?"

"I don't know," said Revan. He let out a small chuckle.

"What?"

"It's just…back on Telos, while I was waiting for the cusp of time to leave, I got into this really in depth conversation with this guy named Mical, in which I talked about myself in third person because he didn't know who I was."

Lena started laughing. "And how was that?"

"I mean, I just told him that I'm a bit more complicated than what the Jedi made me out to be and that in order to find out my intentions, he had to dig."

"What does this have to do with what's going on right now?"

"My thoughts were self oriented towards my past at the time. Killing the engineer was something I now remember since Jolee gave me more of my memories back and this is just another piece of debatable evidence. What the hell was I back then? Was I a hero in every sense of the word, or was I a monster? I can't seem to find any possible gray area between."

"Well you know what I think," said Lena. "But perhaps this is less relevant than you think. Your being of the past will be a subject of relative interpretation to everyone else, but I think it's more important to keep your concentration on the future as well as here and now, where it belongs."

All of a sudden, T3-M4 began squeaking and beeping excessively in a jittery tone.

"Is he tired of hearing us talk or something?" asked Lena.

"No," said Revan. "He found something."

The holographic schematic of the academy coming from the droid's display node vanished and was replaced by a recorded image of Mandalore the Ultimate.

_Mandalore the Ultimate stood in his full set of armor, and then knelt down._

"_What is thy bidding, my masters?" he spoke._

"_Rise," said a deep and bass-like voice that was coming from a transmission. Mandalore did as he was told. "This is a secure line?"_

"_Of course," growled Mandalore._

"_Mandalore," said the voice. "You and your kind have served us well so far, and thus we have shown you our mercy. But your actions of the recent past disturbs us. Why have you not obeyed our last command to the full capacity?"_

"_I don't know what more I can do," he replied. "My men are starving and stretched thin across our territories. We've underestimated the Jedi, and with Taris, and Onderon gone…"_

"_YOU underestimated the Jedi…do not blame your foolishness on any but yourself."_

"_I understand," recanted Mandalore. "But our enemies produce numbers that render them expendable. My men are not."_

"_They are expendable!" growled the voice. "And you would do well to remember this fact. Your race has not lost this war yet, but should you defy us further, we will make sure that is the end result. Is that what you want?"_

"_I don't understand the value you place in that wretched potato world. But I don't care. I'm not going anywhere near it!" All of a sudden, Mandalore the Ultimate began to seize and shake. "Argh! AARGH! AAARGH!" he screamed as he fell backwards onto the floor. His entire body violently shook and he desperately squirmed to make it stop._

"_Perhaps a sample of our power will put you back in place!" growled the voice. "Do not make the same mistake as your predecessors. Do not defy the will of the Sith, or you shall be crushed like the worm of this galaxy." _

_The searing pain Mandalore experienced lasted another several seconds. "Alright! I concede!" screamed Mandalore in desperation. "I'll secure the space around Malachor V immediately. As for luring the Republic there, that will take time."_

"_Get it done Mandalore," growled the voice again. "This will be our last transmission. If we are to contact you again, I guarantee it shall be through less…comfortable circumstances. Rexx out."_

The transmission ended right there and T3-M4 concealed it into its memory bank after a simple nod from Revan.

"Yeah that's it," he said. "I take it this was the True Sith Mandalore was talking to?"

"It has to be," said Lena. "I don't know who Rexx is, but his voice is similar to that of the Grand Sire. When did you get this message?"

"Right before I went to Malachor V," responded Revan. "I got this, and then I came here. I concealed the message in this mainframe and away from the eyes and ears of everyone else. Then I meditated at the core for a while trying to better understand this planet and wait for Mandalore's arrival. He never came, but I decided that if this planet was of value to the people Mandalore was working for, then it needed to be destroyed. So I drafted the plan for the Mass Shadow Generator. I think that last battle in the skies did more for us than I ever imagined, but I still don't understand its value to them."

"But you told me that you found out about the True Sith _on_ Malachor V," said Lena.

"Are you sure you didn't find anything else?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," said Revan. "A lot of the memories Jolee put back into my head didn't make much sense. Maybe…when I meditated at the core, I came across the answer…but if that's the case, why don't I still understand?" Suddenly an idea hit Revan. He began moving towards the door.

"Wait, wait!" cried Lena. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go meditate at the core again."

"Are you crazy? You're going to go hide in plain sight?"

"There's no one there right now, and I have a feeling that this is the only chance I'm going to get."

"Wait, wait, hold on…just for a second," Lena stuttered. "Your face is too easily recognizable, especially to the Sith, and these kids aren't completely clueless. Your face was all over the Republic after the Star Forge battle, but no one knows who I am. Let me do it."

"I don't know Lena," said Revan. "I mean…these are my memories. I don't know if you'd be able to find the answers."

"Just let me try," said Lena. "If I'm wrong, then it's all yours."

Revan collected his thoughts for a moment and then took a deep sigh. "You sure about this?"

"I think I can do it, yes," she replied.

"Fine," said Revan. "T3 and I will watch from here.

As Lena started moving past Revan, one of the guards on the floor began to slightly stir. As he opened his eyes, Lena kicked him in the face again, sending him back into a state of unconsciousness.

Lena left the room and put her dark hood back on while Revan and T3-M4 monitored her whereabouts through the security system. She slipped through the hallways and past the wandering students undetected, slowly making her way down to the Trayus Core.

"So far so good Lena," said Revan through her earpiece. "There are four guards located by the entrance to the core, as well as a narrow line of mines along the way."

"Copy that," she whispered back. She turned the corner and then another corner, passing students meditating in small isolated cubical areas and dark monstrous statues in between. Softly and swiftly as a shadow, she leapt up and off the walls, bouncing off each one until coming to the door at the end of the room. As she opened the door, the four guards immediately turned to face her.

"The Trayus Academy is off limits to all apprentices," said one of the guards. "Wait a moment…who are you?"

"Just a student with a little too much curiosity," replied Lena.

"I've never seen you before," said another guard. "Show me your lightsaber."

Lena nodded sheepishly and held her double bladed lightsaber out. Two of the guards came forward to inspect it. As they neared her, she pressed the button and activated both blades, which shot outward and straight into the skulls of both the guards. They flopped and fell to the floor instantly while the other guards drew their weapons, but Lena was too quick. She kicked the hilt of her lightsaber forward, sending it straight forward at them, the blades piercing their clothing and skinning their sides. It came back into Lena's hand and she switched it off. As the guards were both about to scream in pain and call for backup, Lena launched forward and grabbed their heads. With a swift motion of sheer strength, she banged them together, knocking them out cold.

Revan chuckled and looked at T3-M4, as they saw the whole thing on camera.

"Sometimes I never understand her. There's no consistency. Kill one, but simply render the other unconscious and it's of no consequence." T3-M4 beeped a series in agreement. "You think she learned this from me?" T3-M4 beeped twice, and nodded its head.

Lena entered the Trayus Core and sealed the door behind her shut. "I'm in," she said. "Cross your fingers."

"T3, take the security data for the last three minutes recording the rooms prior to the core and delete them." T3-M4 beeped in affirmation and proceeded to mingle with the computer while Revan kept his eye on Lena. "Make sure to shred the source and backup files also."

Lena took a deep breath and generated a light peaceful aura around herself. It covered her skin like a thin azure coating of moisturizing cream.

"Now that one she definitely learned from me," said Revan with a smile.

"I heard that," said Lena. Revan looked down at his hand to see that he had accidently pressed the button and held it down. As he let go of the button, he felt like the biggest simpleton in the universe, laughing it off quickly.

Lena walked down the narrow pathway and then sat down in the center circle. As she began to meditate, Revan suddenly felt a cold shiver run down his spine from the security room, monitoring through the camera.

"This is the place T3," he said. "This is where Kreia is going to die…unless she is already dead. I saw it happen in my dreams. I sure would like to meet at least one of those Sith Lords that do it." T3-M4 began letting out a series of chirping and buzzing signifying concern. "No," replied Revan. "I'm just wondering if she can pull it off."

For several minutes, nothing happened. Lena simply meditated at the core, sitting there still as a statue as if to be just another Sith Lord.

"_As I enter the Trayus Core, the energies of the Force become my puppet, as it was always meant to be. You are a shell of your former self Malachor V. It's a shame the Mass Shadow Generator didn't rip this planet apart by the fractions of all the men and women consumed. As you can see, I am immune to your wrath, and the wrath of your creators. Now…as an agent of truth and justice above the will of the Force, I command you: show me your weakness and vulnerability, Malachor V. SHOW ME YOUR WEAKNESS!"_

These were the words Lena was screaming in her head as she held still and strong at the center. Almost as if a direct homage to Revan and the themes of his strategy, she meditated at the core of Malachor V to discover its weakness and the truth behind it, like using an enemy's weapon against them; if not to find a way to destroy the planet, to pick up any kind of thread on the true enemy: the True Sith.

Slowly, the aura around Lena began to fade, but Lena paid no attention to it. She sat for at least twenty minutes while Revan watched from the security cameras. "_I wonder how they managed to place a security camera where they placed it, overlooking the core,_" he thought to himself as he and the droid continued watching the screen.

The aura around Lena had finally gone, but she sat perfectly still, continuing to focus her energies and battle the mind of Malachor. All of a sudden, Lena stood up, her eyes still closed and walked over to the edge of the large platform, between two of the pillars on the corners. "_What the hell is she doing?_" thought Revan. He immediately channeled that thought into dialogue. "Lena, what's going on?" He received no initial response. "Lena?" he said again, when suddenly the signal was cut. Nothing but static buzzed from the communicator. "_LENA!_" he yelled through it, knowing that there would be no response. From the video feed, she stood over the edge and looked down, almost as if contemplating suicide.

"Damn it!" yelled Revan out loud. "T3, we've got to get down there immediately! Lena's in trouble, I can feel it! Delete all other incriminating security feeds and then destroy this mainframe. Meet us down there when you're done. We do not change the plan!"

T3-M4 let out a series of beeping and chirping in compliance as Revan burst through the door, ignoring any form of subtlety and leaving the droid alone to do its handy work.

Down at the Trayus Core, Lena Verado stood over the edge of the cliff; her senses unable to comprehend anything. Her eyes were sealed shut, yet she saw through the Force. There were no foul energies swirling about her body like in the tomb on Dxun, yet somehow she felt completely immobile. She wanted to scream, yet she felt as though her lips were sewn shut.

Through the Force, Lena was staring down at the bottomless pit of Malachor V. The energies swirled about the outside, yet did not penetrate the pores of her skin. Noise of thunder and lightning cracked about the core as if consistent with a beating heart.

However, Lena did suddenly see something, but could not act upon it.

_As if in ghost form, her old master Arren Kae stood before her. She was as beautiful as Lena remembered her to be, but her demeanor appeared trouble._

"_Why Lena Verado?" said Kae in an echoed voice, as if mixed with that of someone else. "Why do you do it? Why embrace emotion and fight the inevitability? Your convoluted perception of nobility cast on only to disguise your motives will lead only to more pain and despair; do you think he won't realize? You think he won't see what lingers in the back of your mind? You won't be able to keep this up much longer, but perhaps you already know this. Tell me Lena…you who seek the truth behind the dealings of this place; what is YOUR weakness?"_

_As these words plundered through Lena's head, she saw another image before her. Appearing behind Arren Kae was a being of power and evil that Lena knew all too well. The creature stood nearly seven feet tall with the ever so impressive amount of physique and muscularity about it. The creature possessed a heavy black metal chain over its chest that bore a unique vibroblade at the waist level. With the spiked and intimidating physical features bearing down on her, Lena knew exactly who it was: Rixxon Zazz; the Grand Sire of the True Sith._

_Zazz made no initial bodily motion but turned his expression into a sickly smile; his menacing yellow eyes pulsing with the rest of him. Then all of a sudden, he drew his vibrosword and plunged the blade through Arren Kae's torso, penetrating both her back and her front._

_Kae's eyes slowly closed and she hopelessly fell to the floor dead. However, as the Grand Sire began laughing sadistically, producing a noise that haunted Lena's mind and unlocking the memory of their first meeting in which he zapped her with an inhumane amount of electricity. Kae's body ignited into flames and began to burn in the form of an unorthodox and disrespectful cremation._

Revan sprinted down the corridors and down the long flights of stairs, ignoring the odd looks and shouting curses from the students he passed. "_MOVE!_" he yelled as he jumped and landed on an apprentice's head at the staircase.

"You'll pay for that!" yelled one of five other Sith apprentices he was now facing. They all ignited their red lightsabers at the same time. Revan cursed in his thoughts and then drew the Mantle of the Force. Without waiting for their move, he rushed at all five of them with a battle cry.

"Hey fellas!" yelled a bystander. "Tussle! Get him!" As Revan struck one of the apprentices down, twenty others appeared around them coming from all directions.

"_Out of my way!_"

Lena's eyes suddenly snapped open and turned into a dark golden color. With a sudden surge of energy and full viciousness, she Force grabbed the double doors re-entering the school on the other side and ripped them apart.

"What the hell was that?" said a dark Jedi instructor inside the next room. The woman came out with a battle axe in her hands and saw Lena standing there with a red and purple aura of the dark side of the Force around her, much of which was mixed with the energies spewed from the core. "What is the meaning of this!"

Lena's gaze turned into a sickly smile as she took the metal plates of the doors and slammed them together around the female Sith, squishing her in between. She pulled the doors in and then yanked them apart again, leaving the wearied Sith in front of her defenseless and barely holding onto the axe. The noise of the doors echoed loudly throughout the entire area. Lena backhanded the woman and she fell to her knees. The woman was barely conscious at this point, but she suddenly began to scream in a loud and high pitch as Lena took her double bladed lightsaber and shoved one end straight down behind her into her left leg, leaving the other end pointing upwards. The blade fused a large wound in her calf and fastened her to the ground. The axe had now fallen before her.

Lena picked up the axe and with one hand planted it straight down to the center of the female Sith's scalp. She hoisted the axe back up and did it again, and again…and again; each blow deepening the large gash in the Sith's head and continuing down the neck and body, the tremors of impact shaking her arm. This dark Jedi master was already dead, but Lena continued nevertheless. Blood soaked the blade of the axe and filled the air with each swing. A large portion of it stained her clothes and sprinkled the bottom of Lena's face. Nevertheless, she hacked, and she hacked; treating the messy remains of the Sith to a lifetime's worth of butchering and dismantling.

At a new sense of physical fatigue as well as the lack of remains to dismember, Lena's body was a hub for the corruption of Malachor V. The morbid colored beams and auras swirled around her and flowed easily through pores of her skin, as well as in and out of her nose and mouth. All previous attempts in Lena's mind to hold fast and fight back the power was now blocked. It was as if that part of her nervous system had been switched off somehow simply by the air of the core responding to her.

But all of it miraculously came back in an instant when she let out a scream of pain and agony. Instead of the energies of the core controlling her, she was now under the control of a new being who had entered the room. He was dressed in black from head to toe in a simple set of garbs that dragged below and behind his boots. He was over six and a half feet tall, and his physique could not be more intimidating, especially since it could hardly be noted beneath the robes. The garbs gave him a cape but also a square shaped hood over his head, but underneath the hood was his trademark. It was a white mask with holes covering where the eyes and nose was supposed to be. The mask covered no mouth for no face was seen behind it. The eyes gave no glow or unique hue; they merely gleamed black like the caviar of Mon Calamari. A thin silver lining ran through the center of the mask between the two eyes with what appeared to look like a small chakra right above. Two short red markings streaked the mask from the center of each eye that gave the mask a slightly reddish shadow from close up. The figure; Darth Nihilus could hardly be called a man, and yet he lived and breathed like one.

Lena's body was hoisted up into the air. The axe fell, and Lena's eyes ceased their sulfuric hue, her mind rejoining her consciousness once again. With a gasp, she clenched her throat, feeling an invisible grip upon it. She stared at the tall Sith Lord and her eyes nearly flooded with tears at the sight. It was like staring death in the face.

Nihilus loosened his grip to let her breathe slightly but still kept her in the air. With his other hand, he aimed a thick glove covered finger at her face. Without the slightest strain of energy, he began siphoning the Force from her. Unlike the experience of a comatose mind, Lena felt every second of it. It was as if all of her energy from her body, mind, and spirit were being sapped. It was as if the Force itself was beginning to leave her, forcefully taken to feed the undying hunger of this man. She struggled to breathe; she could not scream, or even make the slightest sound. It was petrifying. All squirms and spasms her body attempted to fight it off were in vain. Her condition began to decline to frailty and in her thoughts she began to beg for death, but that did not stop the Sith Lord from feeding off of her inner fires.

A plasma grenade whizzed over Lena's left shoulder and landed at Darth Nihilus' feet. He did not even notice it when it exploded. The explosion did not the slightest damage to him nor did it knock him back; merely the robes caught on fire.

Without letting go of Lena, Nihilus took a heavy breath, absorbing the energies of the Trayus Core through the holes in his mask that were his eyes and nose. The black robes ceased to burn and he tightened his grip on Lena's throat, her state of being inches from death.

"_Let her go!_" yelled Revan in ancient Sith tongue as he began moving forward to face the dreaded Sith Lord.

"_You dare challenge me!_" replied Nihilus in the same language. "_I am the darkness in which all life dies! None can even begin to comprehend the depth of my power!_"

"_You are a waste of my time Darth Nihilus!_" yelled Revan in response. "_Now let…her…GO!_"

Revan burst out a wave of sonic Force energy with his hands channeled straight for Nihilus. The Sith Lord did not budge one bit, but merely absorbed the attack and stared menacingly at the former Sith Lord. In immediate response, he let go of Lena, causing her to collapse to the floor, inches away from death. Then he unleashed a massive beam of glowing red energy from the holes of his mask. It hit Revan square in the chest and sent him flying backwards before he could dodge it. Revan hit the rock wall behind him and a large set of small rocks that embodied the wall fell on top of him, burying him underneath.

Nihilus began slowly walking past Lena towards Revan. As he neared him, Revan Force blasted the rocks over him apart, sending them flying in all directions but behind. One large rock hit Nihilus' mask, and the Sith Lord was knocked backward, barely taken out of time.

Nihilus drew his lightsaber and ignited it, flashing a single red beam from the hilt. As Revan activated Heart of the Guardian and Mantle of the Force at the same time, Nihilus let out a small blast of lightning into his own saber, empowering it. He then swung downward at Revan's head. Revan x-blocked the blow with both sabers and angled Nihilus' blade away from him.

Attacking from a cunning combination of Jar Kai and Juyo stance, Revan charged and barraged him with blows to Nihilus' torso from all different angles. Nihilus blocked them all with powerful swings, protecting himself but not the robes he was wearing; the cloth slightly pierced at each of Revan's swings. Nihilus refused to give ground and held firm. It became a standstill fight, the two of them constantly swinging and blocking each other's blows. Revan dealt Nihilus an uppercut to the stomach, causing him to cringe slightly. Revan then jumped and flipped over Nihilus, swinging twice at his head. Nihilus blocked both blows as Revan landed on his feet. Revan swing simultaneously again, and their sabers clashed. Revan kicked off from Nihilus' chest and flew backwards again, landing on his back with a thud. Revan kick flipped up and beckoned Nihilus to attack.

From a distance, Nihilus fired another aura of raw Force energy, this time from his hands, but Revan let out an aural blast of his own, jamming with the other. Nihilus and Revan's auras pushed against one another's, but Nihilus slowly began to overpower Revan. Before Revan could begin to despair like in the fight against Darth Malak, he closed his eyes and channeled more of the Force into the aura, his inner energy allowing full control over himself and surrounding himself with it, thereby also blocking the hindering swirls of the dark side in its physical form.

With Nihilus continuing to bear down on him, Revan spoke in Sith tongue. "_I understand your power…the hunger. You feed off the living Force in others. It is your greatest strength and your greatest weakness. You want my power? Fine! Here! TAKE IT!_" Revan's energies of the aura that he had been holding back was set forward and it immediately overpowered Darth Nihilus. The aura Revan fired hit Nihilus in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Like having a thick solid piece of food forced down his throat, Nihilus collapsed to the ground unconscious and utterly overwhelmed by Revan's power.

The aura around Revan's body slowly faded away and Revan took a deep breath in exasperation. Though he had just fed Nihilus an overdose of the Force, he himself was partially drained by the process. The awesome presence of the Sith Lord was a siphon to the power of the soul, the hunger he possessed a product of Malachor V itself. Though the power still there, encased behind the mask was a broken man, cheating death at the price of unending hunger and desperate need to feed, lest he would slip into the long awaited embrace of death; but now was not yet his time.

Revan sank to his knees as he began shaking Lena awake, but Lena did not budge. Checking her pulse and feeling her heart beat, she was alive, but far from well.

"Lena!" Revan yelled as he slapped her face the same way she did after crash landing. "Wake up! _WAKE UP!_"

As Revan held her in his arms still attempting to stir her, four squads of Sith troopers entered the Trayus Core from all sides and surrounded them, aiming their weapons at Revan's head, awaiting the orders of their commanding officer who had also entered the room. Revan slowly laid Lena back down on the floor and drew his lightsabers, igniting them one after the other, at the ready. He then cracked his neck to both sides.

"_Come on…_" he whispered. "_Make my day…_"

* * *

_Told you it was going to be violent, right? We try not to disappoint. :D Thank you kindly for continuing to read, and enjoy the next chapter._

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	18. Chapter 17: The Raggedy Edge

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy  


* * *

Chapter 17  
**

**The Raggedy Edge

* * *

**

Revan stood tall in the center of the Trayus Core with his lightsabers ignited, awaiting the first move by the surrounding commandos. Twenty four guns were aimed at his face, each one of them in the hands of a highly trained Sith trooper. The commanding officer moved in front of one of the squads.

"Jedi Revan!" yelled the captain. "Throw down your weapons, and you shall not be harmed!" Revan did not even move, but merely formulated a plan in his head. "Do it, or we'll shoot you where you stand!" Revan did not move. "You have until the count of three! One…!" Revan shut off Heart of the Guardian and dropped it on the floor. "Two…!"

Revan summoned the battle axe that was lying beside Lena's unconscious body and hurled it forward horizontally. The axe pierced the neck of the captain and removed his head cleanly off the body. The head flew in the air and then fell into the core while the body plopped to the floor. The axe flew over the rest of them and landed blade first into the rock wall. "Three!" Revan yelled as he summoned back Heart of the Guardian.

Before the squads could open fire, the rocks on the rock wall where the axe had landed began falling down one by one, culminating in a landslide. The impact of the axe had triggered this, just as Revan knew it would, and the soldiers of the two squads standing there were either buried beneath the boulders or on their way to the center of the planet with the rest of the stones and pebbles that slipped over the edge.

After dragging Lena closer to the pillar best suitable for cover, Revan faced the other two squads, which were already opening fire on him. He jumped up to the top of the nearest curved pillar and began deflecting shots, hoping to thin their numbers. There was no way any reinforcements would be able to come the other way, for Revan's rockslide stunt had taken care of it. With the Heart of the Guardian and Mantle of the Force, Revan blocked every incoming shot and redirected back at them as many as he could. Yet for each shot sent back, it missed the Sith trooper that fired it by a simple dodge.

Revan scowled in frustration as he hopped back down behind the pillars. He did not want to leave Lena there, even for a split second. She was helpless and hurt bad enough already after what Darth Nihilus had done to her. Even more, Revan dreaded the thought of the Sith Lord regaining consciousness and hindering their efforts further. He felt trapped, and had to act fast. Only one thought rushed to his mind.

"_I've got to be careful…a single blast, direct hit, stray shot, ricochet, doesn't matter. Any one of them hits Lena and she's done for._"

Revan took out his communicator. "T3, T3!" he yelled through the transmitter. "Come in T3! What's your status!" A series of responsive beeps and buzzes churned through the communicator from T3-M4. "What the hell are you doing there? I told you to meet me here!" Another large set of annoyed noises and whistles came from the droid. They lasted a while and Revan listened intently, despite the gunfire around him. A grenade landed near him but Revan picked it up and threw it into the core before it exploded. "Just get here as soon as you can!"

Another grenade landed near Revan, but it didn't go off. Revan summoned the grenade, pulled the pin, and threw it back over the top. The grenade exploded into one of the squads, incinerating two of the soldiers while the others dove for cover. Blaster fire continued to rain down upon his position, and unbeknownst to Revan, one of the squads had begun moving to a flanking position while the others kept him pinned.

"_This is not looking good,_" he thought to himself. Why was this happening? Revan could blow a Republic Hammerhead into dust with the Force and yet he seemed helpless against a bunch of Sith troopers on his own? What was wrong with this picture? Revan shrugged these thoughts off quickly, knowing that he could not afford to waste the time with them. A blaster shot came towards him at a new angle, but Revan shifted just in time for it to burn a hole through his dark robes. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled to himself as he found himself deflecting more shots at the flanking squad.

Revan switched off Heart of the Guardian and simply used Mantle of the Force to redirect lasers back at the other men. Meanwhile, he used the Force to disarm the Plasma Rifle from one of the men and began firing back at them.

There stood Revan, lightsaber in left and blaster in right, standing firm against a squad of six while the other two squads of men suppressed fire from behind. Revan shot one of the men in the face and then hit another in the leg. The injured soldier stumbled back a few steps and injected a shot of adrenaline into his leg to numb the wound. Then he stood back up and continued firing.

Revan's left arm was getting tired from deflecting shots, as he knew he could not keep this up forever. The power of the Force had been mostly drained from his body ever since he knocked out Darth Nihilus, but the energies of Malachor V were hindering his ability to regenerate and use the Force for physical stimulation.

Standing out against the roar of hunger that echoed with the vibe of the Trayus Core was a Sith interceptor ship that came down over the top from around the corner. It came straight at Revan and floated right above him. The remaining Sith troopers immediately ceased fire and exchanged glances of smug victory through their helmets. Revan stared at the Sith fighter and a light smirk appeared on his face. The small snub craft immediately turned and opened fire upon the soldiers, catching them by surprise. Before they could return fire, they were blown away by the high magnitude lasers from the interceptor. If they were not directly hit, the ground beneath them was hit, causing the rocks to tumble into the core along with the unfortunate souls standing on them. In a matter of seconds, the Trayus Core was empty except for Revan, Lena, and the still unconscious body of Darth Nihilus.

The interceptor landed at the center circle of the core just a few meters from Revan and Lena. Revan picked up Lena and hoisted her behind his shoulders as he moved her towards the ship. The cockpit opened up and T3-M4 was elevated from the droid repair spot.

"Good work T3," said Revan. "Now quickly, let's get the hell off this piece of shit rock and head for space!" T3-M4 chirped happily. Revan put Lena on the side of single seat in the cockpit and sat beside her, feeling immensely crunched and uncomfortable. T3-M4 descended back down into its position at the rear of the ship.

"Alright, let's see what this thing can do," said Revan as he began pressing numerous buttons. T3-M4 let out a loud series of buzzes and locked down the controls, stopping Revan from doing anything. "Oh come on!" yelled Revan. "I can fly this little thing…a six year old could figure it out!" T3-M4 made no reply but simply lifted the ship from the center circle and they were blasted into the sky.

At the speed of sound, the ship cleared Malachor V airspace and headed towards the floating space junk. Revan sat back and rested Lena's head on his lap.

"At least, enable the communicator!" pleaded Revan. "They can't understand you, and I know how to work it." T3-M4 complied and Revan adjusted the frequency to that of the Ebon Hawk. "Yuthura! Dustil! HK-47, somebody from the Hawk pick up! It's me!"

Revan received an immediate response from Dustil. "Hey, how'd it go?"

"Never mind that!" yelled Revan. "We're coming from the Southeast quadrant in a Sith interceptor. Open up the garage and do not fire on us!"

"What's the hurry," asked Dustil sensing desperation in Revan's voice. "You got somebody behind you?"

"Pretty soon most likely yes," replied Revan. "And Lena's hurt real bad. Do you see me yet?"

"Is she okay?" asked Yuthura.

"She's alive, now do you or do you not see me yet!" fired Revan in an irritated tone.

"I see you," said Dustil. "Gimme a sec." Dustil was about to enter the sequence to open the garage, but Yuthura stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"That thing will never fit up the ramp," said Yuthura.

"Revan just gave an order!" shouted Dustil in return.

"It's suicide!" yelled Yuthura.

"What's taking so long!" yelled Revan through the communicator. "I'm almost on your ass! Open the ramp!"

"We can't," said Yuthura.

"False," said Dustil. "I can't. Yuthura won't let me."

"_WHAT!_"

"Revan, there's no way it's going to fit!" said Yuthura before Revan could scream more. "Your snub's too fat, and the ramp is too thin."

"So what do you want me to do? Jettison ourselves out through?" said Revan sarcastically.

"Wait!" yelled Yuthura. "I've got a better idea. Hang tight." Yuthura jumped from his seat and began moving out of the cockpit.

"Yuthura!" cried Dustil. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Tell Revan to bring that little snub underneath the ship. I think we can latch it onto the bottom."

"Revan did you hear that?" asked Dustil.

"Yeah I heard," growled Revan. "T3, do it. Dustil, once we're latched, I want you to bring the ship closer to the planet and enter the atmosphere."

"How low?"

"Low enough for breathable air pressure and no buildup of ice, but high enough so we don't crash…" T3-M4 let out a brief sequence of beeping, which Revan picked up immediately. "T3 says that an altitude of 6.5 kilometers should be sufficient."

"Won't we be hit by lightning?" asked Dustil.

"We don't have another option," said Revan. "We don't have the equipment for an in-space transit from this craft to the Hawk. Let Yuthura latch us and then take us down."

"I can do that," said Dustil. "How we doing Yuthura?"

"Almost there…" murmured Yuthura. "Just have to…_GOT IT! _Revan's latched. Take us down!"

"Hang tight!" yelled Dustil. He steered the Ebon Hawk closer to Malachor V and initiated a dive. The Ebon Hawk's dive was almost vertical, and seemingly unbalancing and disturbing to the harmonious current of storms and howling winds that reigned through the dark clouds. Revan felt himself even more unwelcome to the arms of Malachor V, hearing and feeling the deafening cracks of thunder and lightning that seemed to hit all around the Ebon Hawk but somehow not at it. As the ship came down, they could feel the speed picking up slowly without any kind of boost to the thrusters.

"Easy Dustil!" called Revan. This was a light way of saying what Revan was actually thinking. "If he doesn't slow down, we'll wind up a bigger mess than the one Lena made with that axe."

"We're past the ice buildup," said Dustil. "12 kilometers…11 kilometers…10…"

"Stop the dive now!" yelled Revan. "Keep her steady straight and let gravity handle the rest." Dustil complied, and pulled up slightly on the throttle. Revan felt a lurch in his stomach, as he was hoisted upward sixty degrees with the rest of the snub fighter. "What's our altitude now?" yelled Yuthura from the elevator.

"I'm fighting a losing battle against gravity," cracked Dustil. "But we're down to 8.5 kilometers now."

"Revan," said Yuthura.

"Still here…"

"When Dustil gives the go, open your cockpit and bring Lena up the ladder. I've stuck the elevator platform all the way to the top, so you've got a straight shot."

"Copy that," complied Revan.

"We're down to 7 kilometers!" yelled Dustil. "I'll keep her steady between here and 6.5! Do it now!"

Revan unlocked and lifted the cockpit open, immediately exposing himself to the high speed winds that nearly sucked him out. He grabbed Lena and drooped her over his right shoulder. He jumped and grabbed onto the ladder above with his left hand. Demonstrating immense physical strength, Revan yanked himself and Lena upward with only his left hand until his feet stabilized on the lowest step. As he took one more step, Yuthura extended her hand and grabbed Lena's arm. Revan let go of Lena once Yuthura tightly gripped her and then made his way up. Yuthura carried Lena to the med bay and laid her down on the bed.

"Your turn T3!" called Revan. "I'll guide you up!" T3-M4 made no reply but disengaged his harness. The winds nearly pulled the little droid out of the hole in the ship, but Revan grabbed it first, gently guiding it up the shaft.

Once T3-M4 was through, Yuthura slammed a button near Revan and the outermost hatch on the bottom was closed, followed by the inner hatch, leaving the quadlaser turret the lowest point of the ship, as it was meant to be.

Despite all the yelling and shouting, Revan never panicked for a second. A quality of his he had never lost even when he lost his memories was his ability to keep cool under intense situations, to be able to physiologically and psychologically engage himself to do anything. The yelling was merely a result of the deafening screams and echoes heard most frequently throughout Malachor V, as if never ceasing to reflect the horrors of events past.

"We good?" asked Dustil. "Hello?"

"Yeah we're good!" sighed Revan. "Now get us the hell out of here."

"Sure thing…uh oh," said Dustil quietly, but somehow Revan heard him.

"What's the matter?" Revan said.

"We've got incoming. Eight Sith interceptors, like the one you flew in headed straight for us. Wait…make that eighteen."

"How do you go from eight to eighteen?" asked Yuthura.

"Never mind," snapped Revan. "Where's HK?"

"Answer: I am right here and ready to serve, master," said HK-47, the droid standing still in the Main Hold.

"Gun turret time; you up?"

"Exclamation: Oh yes indeed, master! I…"

"Yeah yeah yeah!" interrupted Revan. "I got no time for extensive responses about the joy you get cracking fleshy heads! Get on the bottom turret and shoot what moves!"

Revan climbed up the ladder to the top quadlaser turret while HK-47 slid down to the bottom turret and took his seat.

"Just like old times," thought Revan, briefly flashing back to the last time he had to operate the turret over Rakata Prime and the Star Forge. He strapped himself in and flipped three switches, putting the turret on manual.

"Here they come!" yelled Dustil. I'll try to outmaneuver them.

"Nothing too fancy!" said Revan as he began shooting at the fighters. "Getting them to follow in a straight line is much preferred. Come on mother…!" Revan pulled the triggers back and one Sith fighter exploded from the intense rate of fire.

"Commentary: Very impressive droid-like precision, master. Now watch as I exceed your marksmanship." The assassin droid held its fingers on the trigger as it twirled the turret almost 270 degrees, cunningly achieving fatal hits on three other Sith fighters.

The squadrons began to return fire and though Dustil did his best to steer away, the shields took a light beating from the shots that did manage. The Sith ships persisted and did not cease fire upon the ship.

Though the shields were far from drained, the ship shook and rumbled enough to be felt by the crew.

"We're getting hammered!" yelled Revan.

"No shit!" snapped Dustil. Yuthura immediately elbowed his side, hinting that this was a mistake. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, but they may be a little fancy. Urgh…where's Lena when I need her…"

The Ebon Hawk was beginning to take more and more hits, each of them slowly reducing more of the deflector shields. One series of shots bounced off the shields in front of Revan's turret windshield, a flash blinding him for a second.  
Revan scowled angry as he shot another fighter to dust and then concentrated fire on another group of two. The squadrons temporarily broke off pursuit and flew around the ship, splitting into two groups.

"Damage report!"

"We're intact but our shields are down to fifty percent!" cried Yuthura.

"Damn it!" thought Revan. "We can't lose the shields!" he yelled. "We can't win this fight…only survive. Jump to hyperspace now!"

"And go where!" queried Dustil.

"Forget about coordinates!" shot Revan. "Quickly, before they regroup and attack us again!"

"But…" stammered Dustil. "Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce into a supernova and that'll end our trip real…"

"_JUST DO IT!_" screamed Revan, so loud that it echoed throughout the ship.

"Do it!" cried Yuthura right next to Dustil like a nudge to take the hint. Dustil complied and pulled the lever back.

The Ebon Hawk was headed in the direction of a large yellow nebula, but Dustil managed to steer away from it immediately before doing so. The stars in space became mottled starlines in and the Ebon Hawk blasted far away.  
Revan breathed deeply and wiped the sweat from his brow. His heart was pounding even though it was all over. He lowered himself from the turret and came to the cockpit.

"Good work Dustil," said Revan with a smile, still slightly gasping for breath. He patted Dustil on the back. "Take us out."

"What if they followed us?"

"They didn't," said Revan with confidence. "Take us out…before we collide with a star or supernova." Dustil immediately released the lever and exited hyperspace.

As the blue tunnel disappeared, a large rock came into view at intense speed.

"What the…?" said Dustil quickly.

"_PULL UP!_" cried Revan. Dustil reached for the control, but Yuthura beat him to it. She yanked the joystick upward and the Ebon Hawk breezed over the asteroid, nearly skimming it at the bottom. Revan reached out with the Force and pushed the asteroid as far forward as he could on such short notice, just as the Ebon Hawk breezed over it. Ahead of them was a massive field of asteroids, seemingly endless.

Now, there was Revan's brief panic; just a half split second, where the journey could have ended before it had begun. He hit the wall behind him, heavily breathing and feeling his pulse pound. "Let's not go into hyperspace without coordinates again…" said Dustil, also catching his breath from the shock of nearly being killed.

"Dustil, do you know what direction you were going when you made the jump?"

"Directly west I believe," answered Dustil.

"Where are we?" asked Yuthura, signaling Revan to check the galaxy map. Revan clenched his heart and moved over to it, checking it closely. "There's a massive uncharted area of space between Malachor V space and the Unknown Regions. It's uncharted, meaning we don't have the astrogation charts for this field, but I know exactly where we are."

"Where?"

"The Crispin System," replied Revan. "Consider it our gate to the Unknown Regions."

"You have coordinates in the Unknown Regions?"

"Yeah, I got it from Lena's map, but my original plan was to use Rakata Prime as a launch point, so we could avoid this part."

"Wait…you were planning to go straight into the Unknown Regions from Rakata Prime?" asked Dustil.

"Until I found Jolee," said Revan.

"What would you have done with us?" asked Yuthura.

Revan sighed. "You don't want to hear this from me; trust me."

"No, actually I think we do," responded Yuthura. "What did you have in mind?"

"When I told you to be on your best behavior for the Elders and suggested that this was part of the test; I partially hoped I could leave you with them. They would have taken good care of you, and you would have been safe from whoever was chasing you."

"You weren't going to take us with you no matter what?" asked Dustil.

"I really didn't want to," said Revan. "For your own sake…"

"So when you found them dead…then what?" asked Dustil impatiently.

"Don't disrespect them…" growled Revan. "The entire galaxy owes them a debt that would take several lifetimes to pay and barely a fraction of it knows of their former existence.

"Sorry…" conceded Dustil. "I'm just a little anxious, that's all."

"Patience…" whispered Revan. "So I took you to Malachor V, thinking that I didn't really have a choice but to take you with me. But then you helped me recover the parts and assemble the pod. You also helped me get down there, and then back up. And now…here we are, past the raggedy edge of familiar territory, forced here by our own dealings."

"You don't think the Force has anything to do with this?" asked Yuthura.

Revan chuckled. "I think the Force has been telling me for the past three days to let you both tag along, but I'm not sure if listening to it is a great idea."

"Maybe you should," said Yuthura. "I mean…look where we are right now. The Force obviously has no control over your mind anymore, but maybe it's just…just…"

"Blind luck?" interrupted Dustil unaware if his answer was correct.

"You believe in luck…" conjectured Revan. "Heh…that's interesting."

"With the shit we've gotten into in the not too distant past, I sometimes wonder if the Force is the only entity of power out there. I wouldn't put luck as something non-existent."

"How do I always find myself drifting onto something different with you?" snapped Revan.

"Because you enjoy talking to us," said Dustil. "That's pretty much a given."

"But you want to go back to the main topic," said Yuthura. "So, what now?"

"What now is, I've already decided that you're coming," said Revan bluntly.

"You weren't going to listen to the Force, which was telling you to take us, and yet you're taking us? I'm a little confused here," said Dustil.

"It means he has his own reasons," said Yuthura. "Isn't that right Revan?"

"It would have probably taken me thrice the time to assemble that pod without your help, and without your help we never would have made it back to the ship. And while I was on the gun turret, I realized how much I had been leaning on Lena like a crutch; which ironically goes against most of what I know and understand about the Force. Lena is my teacher, partner, friend, and first mate; but I think it's become apparent that I need more than just her and the droids for this mission. I need a crew."

Dustil opened his mouth to say something, but Yuthura sensed it and put her open hand in front of his face. Revan furrowed his brow, as if expecting them to say something. Yuthura removed her hand, and Dustil spoke. "I like the way you think," he said. "I think my father would approve."

"Hell no," growled Revan. "Your father would not approve one bit; but I don't have the time to reason with him, and I don't even have the time to drop you off somewhere nice if my decision was to the contrary. That's why I'm not going to leave it up to him. So, I'm raising the offering now. How would you like to come with me to parts unknown and save the galaxy?"

Yuthura and Dustil smiled and exchanged glances. "Count us in," said Yuthura. "We'll stick by you till the end."

"So where do we start?"

"Journeys and treks of epic proportions begin with a single step. Looks like we made a step in the right direction, so we're going to manually navigate through this asteroid field, and then we'll travel through the secure hyperspace routes."

"This is great!" exclaimed Dustil. "We didn't even need Lena to vouch for us!"

"Speaking of which," said Revan. "I better go check on her. See that big asteroid right over there?"

"Pretty hard not to," mused Dustil.

"Land on it. We need a solid twelve hours of R & R before continuing."

"Aye aye captain," said Dustil as he took the Ebon Hawk in for a touchdown.

Hours passed, Dustil and Yuthura slept in the Starboard Dormitory. Revan was exhausted, physically, mentally, perceptually, and spiritually, yet he could hardly sleep. His thoughts were on Lena and her ability to recover. She lay in the medical bay with an IV in her arm, solid pulse and breathing. And yet, she was unconscious and helpless. Every once in a while, she would float lightly up and down on top of the bed; a sign that she was healing herself and gave Revan a bit more confidence that she would pull through.

Revan slowly slipped in and out of slumber for a few hours, allowing his muscles to relax and heal more than his mind. The experience of Malachor V again was playing through his head over and over again. He tried to meditate and put the pieces together as best as he could, but he was left with many new questions about what happened.

"_How did I suddenly start speaking ancient Sith tongue? How did I know that his name was Darth Nihilus? What the hell got over Lena and made her take an axe to that random Sith girl's face? Did she see something odd when she looked over the edge? Is she hiding something from me?_"

These questions raced through Revan's head and it began to frustrate him. Revan was always asking himself questions, even if not to express self doubt, but more-so to be as analytical as possible when not facing the moments of truth. It seemed that with everything that had happened to him in memory, he was always left with new unanswered questions; as if his life was a never-ending puzzle in the midst of the turmoil and tragedies that encompassed it.

A few more hours passed. Revan did a combination of sleeping and thinking, while Dustil and Yuthura remained sound asleep in their bunks. T3-M4 was now on standby mode after repairing the Ebon Hawk's deflector shields. HK-47 was standing still as a statue in the corridor outside the port dormitory, guarding Revan's bunk as it always had before.  
A good night's sleep that the crew needed had finally come.

* * *

_Back at the Trayus Core of Malachor V…_

Darth Nihilus lay still, but slowly slipping from unconsciousness. He opened his eyes but did not move for a dark robed woman stood over him with a menacing look. Nihilus was not intimidated, but he lay still, anticipating a lecture from his master.

"Are you quite finished sleeping on the job?" sneered Kreia. "Pah…like so many Sith you consist of more brawn than brains. Or perhaps generated by your impulsive hunger for that which makes you both the strongest and weakest being in this galaxy…"

Nihilus slowly came up to his feet and stood tall in front of Kreia looking down at her. He let out a loud growl.

"Your attempts to intimidate me rival that of showing a picture of water to a dehydrated man. After all…I'm not the one stupid enough to pick a fistfight with the Revanchist himself."

Nihilus let out another growl, but turned it into a grumbled coherent reply. "[What do you want, master?]"

"I merely wish to show you, you who claim to be the darkness in which all life dies how pathetic and hopeless you truly are underneath that insignificant costume you wear. A sensible man like the one you once were would have never engaged one as powerful as Revan directly, lest your mind be overwhelmed by a power you claim to control. I would see it wise to focus on controlling this hunger, as the living Force is a limited elixir at best, and it will end you, in a far more gruesome death than falling into the core of Malachor itself."

Nihilus let out another long phrase of cryptic Sith language, which Kreia paid no attention to.

"Do you know what Revan's purpose was in coming here?" Nihilus shook his head slowly. "I did not think so. My sources also tell me that Revan came here with another, yet none knew the identity. Do you?" Nihilus shook his head again. "Is this person dead?"

"[Undoubtedly,]" lied Nihilus. "[At my own hand.]"

"Hmm…" pondered Kreia. "I believe you are lying to me…but I have not the patience to fish around your empty skull for the answers I seek." Nihilus grunted again. "And besides…if Revan is going where I think he's going…he would be wise to leave everything behind…and he knows it."

Nihilus grumbled another passage. "[What are you talking about?]"

"No doubt you are curious, my apprentice, perhaps out of vendetta. Well you will understand that I cannot allow you to pursue. This is true power; to exercise full control over something or someone. Your senses find what I allow them to find; your knowledge grows based on what I allow you to possess. A fundamental trait my apprentice, that you lack; and if you have not already learned this lesson the hard way, then I suspect that when the time comes for you to meet your end, whomsoever be strong enough to finish you off shall do so in the same way, by using your weakness - your predictability and perceived invulnerability against you. I long to see that moment happen, although perhaps old age shall consume me before you are destroyed. But I am not completely unsympathetic to your state of being. The last thing you wish to hear is another rambling of your infinite failings. I have another assignment for you."

* * *

_Back on the Ebon Hawk…  
_

Lena awoke in the medical bay, shifting herself straight forward, almost knocking the sheets off her. She gazed upward, quickly realizing that she was in the Ebon Hawk.

"Wh…how…" she stuttered as she attempted to detach the IV from her body, but a hand gently grasped her own, stopping.

"Relax," said Revan. "You took a pretty bad hit at Malachor V. I was lucky just to get you out of there."

"Revan…" said Lena. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. I lost control…I…I don't know what came over me. Please forgive me."

"All is forgiven," said Revan soothingly. "I'm just glad you're alive. I want you to rest here for a few days."

"What the hell happened to me? Last I remember, I was being progressively weakened by some unfathomable power and I could not stop it."

"And it nearly killed you," said Revan. "I believe you have some storytelling to do, but we can put a hold on that for now. Don't worry. Malachor V is long gone, and I don't think we're ever going back there again."

"Then…the mission was a success?"

"As big a success as it could have been I think," said Revan.

"Then…where are we now?" She said sitting up rubbing her temple.

Revan smiled. "We're in the Unknown Regions…"

* * *

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	19. Chapter 18: Force Ghosts

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy  
**

**

* * *

Chapter 18**

** Force Ghosts

* * *

**

After a week's worth of good night sleeps complemented with long awaited showers and feasts, the crew of the Ebon Hawk was freshened up and ready to continue their journey into the Unknown Regions; a venture to places where all predecessors would travel to on a one way ticket. Though Lena had been there before, she had no idea where they were. A long hyperspace jump spanning from one area of the galaxy to another after a four year imprisonment could hardly be considered as familiar territory for her.

Lena was finally mobile; still not quite up to her full potential, but with each day of travel, she felt better and better. Despite the fact that she usually loved to take four to five hour naps during the day, Lena actually remained awake for most of the days, as she constantly tried to test out her energy. Over the course of the travel, she felt just like someone trying to feel their arm again after giving away a liter of blood. Lena and Dustil took turns flying the ship, but Yuthura also picked up several of their tricks, and once in a while took their place.

Lena acted as a bystander for the rigorous sparring Dustil and Yuthura did with each other on Revan's orders. This type of training was their best form of time passing, as it unveiled the martial artist within each as well as the potential to become much more. Lena kept her quiet, but every once in a while she would make a pointer for either Dustil or Yuthura, whose skill with the blade was evenly matched. The sparring was fought Mandalorian-style, with no Force powers, and a ring of battle to fight in. The battle circle was made of the cylindrical canisters in the cargo hold.

At supper time, they gathered in the main hold and sat comfortably on the chairs. This was done so in a family like manner, with a good conversation to complement the dinner.

"That was delicious," said Dustil. "Yuthura, you should have cooked this soup more often back in the day. I feel a little energized right now, like I'm ready to kick your ass in sparring."

"Good," retorted Yuthura. "Maybe now you'll last longer than ten seconds in the ring with me."

"Knock it off," said Revan with a goofy smile. "I actually had a planned chat for this dinner, but with all of you stuffing your faces in the chowder, I couldn't get a word in."

"What was your plan?" said Lena with a mouth full of food.

"It first requires that you swallow your food." Lena gulped the serving in her mouth and then began sipping the rest of the soup from the bowl. "Now I wanted to raise this yesterday, but I figured we all needed more than a few days rest. But this is important, so I don't want to ignore it. Lena, I think you've got a little storytelling to do."

Lena looked up from her bowl at Revan who could not stop staring at her chowder mustache. Dustil motioned to her of its existence and she wiped it off with a blush. "So what story? I promised them I'd tell them about how we beat the Pigs at Althir."

"Pigs?" asked Yuthura.

"Soldier slang," replied Lena. "'Mandalorians' is kind of a mouthful – five syllables and all. So we figured that given their nature, we could call them war pigs, and shorten that further to just pigs. You'd think it's insulting, but most of them are okay with it now. I've even heard some call each other that." This whole time, Revan had buried his face in his hands.

"No Lena, we can humor them later. I want you to tell me what in the hell happened to you at the Trayus Core that made you carve a wedge into the remains of that Sith girl."

"Oh that," replied Lena. "Yes I think I can recall some of it, but I definitely blacked out more than once."

"Too much to drink?" chided Dustil.

"Yeah because Malachor V is a fresh water pond."

"Can we stop side tracking ourselves?" said Revan coldly. "I need to hear a debriefing from Lena on this, and I figured maybe you all did too. So do me a favor; shut up."

Dustil motioned the closing of a zipper with his hand to his mouth as Lena spoke. She debriefed Dustil and Yuthura on the full experience at Malachor V, and the only unfamiliar part for Revan was the telling of what she saw below the Trayus Core.

"Explain to me what Kae meant when she said: '_You think he won't see what lingers in the back of your mind?_'"

"I honestly have no idea," replied Lena. "I contemplated this both in my sleep and in my consciousness, and I have no idea."

"Did you have anything at the back of your mind that could either be useful or troubling to the Sith?"

"I don't think so," said Lena. "In all my debriefs, I gave the information to the letter of detail. I don't recall missing anything…I mean, unless you want me describing cutting my foot on a pebble on my way out of the Sith prison…"

"No that's not necessary," said Revan while rolling his eyes. "And I don't think you're lying either. Hmm…"

"He's thinking again," said Yuthura with a smile. "I'm rather excited for what his mind excretes."

"Well," began Revan. "The Grand Sire made the illusion of Arren Kae speaking to you to you, and for the most part, she basically tormented you…right? That was the intention of that strange piece of dialogue, perhaps coming from a corrupted ghost of her former self. It's been in my past experiences, Kreia being my master and all, to understand that when another person verbally torments you – that is, tries to play a trick on your mind…the point is not to make you cringe by saying: 'I know your secret!'"

"That's good, because I don't have any secrets," said Lena.

"I was guessing that it was the core of Malachor V playing a trick on you."

"Maybe," said Lena somberly. "Don't show me a recording of what I did. I'd really rather not see it. I'm just surprised Revan, that your questions ended there."

"What do you mean?"

"You never once asked if I took anything positive from that meditation at the core, as if the entire experience was moot, given my immediate actions."

"And I'm suddenly to believe that it's not?"

"One doesn't just sit at the center of one of the most evil and corruptive places in the galaxy and not learn a thing or two about it, even if it's just for twenty minutes."

"Well okay then. Lena, please enlighten us with your discoveries at Malachor V before you chopped up that dark Jedi like mashed potatoes," said Revan sarcastically.

"I'd be happy to," said Lena matching his tone. "Malachor V was a creation of the True Sith. For what purpose? I have no idea. But what I do know, is that the True Sith built this planet, and all the energies around the core immediately before leaving this galaxy in their flight so long ago. The most powerful of the sages and masters in the dark side compiled their energies and manipulative power over the dark side of the Force to create this roaring abomination of a planet."

"I don't understand; how do you create a planet?" Yuthura queried.

"Maybe that's why they wanted so bad for Mandalore to take it," said Revan, ignoring Yuthura. "Malachor V was their child."

"I'm not sure if I'd rush the judgment to call the True Sith nostalgic," said Lena. "Malachor V had a purpose that was of some kind of tactical use to them. What that was, I couldn't find out."

"But to have such power to create a planet!" said Yuthura. "Gotta admire that, even though they're the enemy."

"The power of the Force," said Lena. "Not so different from the power of life; to give it, and to take it away."

"Who'd have thought the dark side of the Force could be used to create life," added Dustil.

"You'd be surprised," said Revan. "There are techniques in the Force in which midichlorians can be manipulated, bended to the will of another to create life."

"I know all about that," said Lena. "The True Sith like to use this kind of technique on themselves. They can make their own offspring, but they can also maintain the life they have, so to achieve immortality."

"It's amazing," said Revan rolling his eyes again. "These kinds of conversations I have cherished, but one of those things I cherish most is when I find myself getting lost in the long past words of another."

"What'd I say this time?" asked Lena.

"You said something about the True Sith having manipulative power over the dark side. Am I to believe that the dark side has no hold on their minds? That they have broken free from the will of the dark side to become its master?"

"Of course" said Lena. "Why do you think I vouched that they were the greatest threat we've ever faced? It's because they play their own game in the Force's own war. They aren't bound by the will to the need of universal balance. They can do whatever the hell they want!"

"That's why you said they are priority on our death list," murmured Revan feeling a bit stupid. "Yeah I get it."

"I wish I knew what they're talking about," whispered Dustil to Yuthura. Yuthura gave a light nod.

"Too bad Kreia isn't here to chew you out about lack of insight," mocked Lena to cheer Revan up.

"If I could just make a little piece of commentary," said Dustil.

"What are you, HK-47?" joked Revan. "Yeah go ahead."

"Objection: Oh Master, please spare me the pain of personality alike comparison to this lesser Jedi meatbag." Revan chuckled.

"Better get used to HK calling you a meatbag," said Revan with another laugh.

"If I may," said Dustil, desperate to get back on his own track. "Kreia sounds like a seriously messed up bitch…" said Dustil. "No offense to you Revan."

"None taken," Revan replied. "Kreia is the kind of person who, if she brought you out into the middle of a prairie in order to teach you a lesson of power through manipulation, she'd take over the mind of a puppy, use that puppy to kill some poor defenseless animal, bring it back to you as game trophy…or dinner, and then set the puppy free so it can live with the pain."

"She did this in front of you?" asked Dustil in an astonished tone.

"No, but I'll put it this way. Training under her was loads of fun."

"Yeah, he gets his sense of humor from her too," chided Lena.

"Wait…Kreia was your…"

"No," interrupted Revan. "She wasn't my mother. She was like a mother to me. But definitely not my real mother."

"And Dustil, you ought to mind that sharp tongue of yours, at least a little bit," said Lena. "Words like 'bitch' don't usually appeal to the girls…unless you encounter one that uses them just as liberally, in which case you're in the clear."

"Whoa, whoa wait a minute…_you're_ giving _me_ girl advice?"

"Don't the Jedi have a few strong words to say about affectionate attachment?" asked Yuthura.

"Don't the words 'Revan and I aren't Jedi need just a bit more drilling into that pretty head of yours?" retorted Lena.

"Fair enough," Dustil conceded. "But seriously, girl advice?"

Lena eyed Revan who shifted slightly to his left in his loss of comfort. He was now sitting with an unusual amount of stiffness. Revan did not want Dustil and Yuthura to know about his attachment to Bastila. There was no possible way he could have kept it from Lena, but he figured that the other two were better off without that knowledge, either that or they did not need to know about it right now.

Not to mention, Revan learned wonders about the hypocrisy of forbidden love by the Jedi, and he had much to say about it. The last time he spoke of it was with Mical, whilst changing the specifics to someone other than himself, but that was for the benefit of an academic. If Dustil and Yuthura were to know about Revan's belief in that field, they would suspect him of having such attachment, and thus rendering all attempts to conceal that truth in vain.

"Maybe that's just a subject for another time," Lena finally said.

Revan ordered a manual operating for the ship starting now as the routine for the crew until they cleared the asteroid field. Finding their bearings here was hardly possible but they had to make do with what they had. When all systems checked by Revan and T3-M4 were cleared, they launched back up to continue flying.

* * *

_In the forests of Kashyyyk near the village of Rwookrrorro…_

Mission and Zaalbar had been swinging on the vines for the entire afternoon, and she finally achieved enough balance to do it on her own without his help. Mission jumped to the next vine – a much longer vine than the last one, and she found herself airborne, one she let go. She flew high, and on her descent, Zaalbar caught her on his own vine. The Wookiee tossed her up and she landed feet first on a thin but sturdy branch. Zaalbar then landed on the adjacent one.

"Shall we climb down?"

"[That is the Shadowlands Mission,]" growled Zaalbar. "[You know how dangerous it is.]"

"Aww, c'mon," said Mission with a growing smile. "Freyyr won't mind."

"[Father is not far from passing…he does not have the strength to mind. Why do you want to go down there anyway?]"

"I don't know…just for fun. I just wanted to get away from it all, you know? Maybe camp out at Jolee's old hut." Zaalbar grimaced. "I don't plan to stay for very long. C'mon…Worrroznor has everything under control for now.

"[Very well,]" said Zaalbar. Mission smiled and began hopping down the tree she was on, branch from branch.

"I love climbing up and down Kashyyyk," said Mission. "Even if I have a dozen kilometers to go."

They made their way down to the forest floor. The afternoon was slowly turning into the evening, but it was always nighttime in the Shadowlands. The height and thickness of the trees were unrivaled. The wind that flew over the top could not penetrate the trees; only the leaves off the thinnest of branches.

"[Stay close to me,]" said Zaalbar.

Before Mission could respond, three bull katarns appeared, giving off a clear scent of rage and desperate hunger. Zaalbar pulled out his bowcaster and put a shot right between the eyes of the first that begun to charge. The other two began charging at the same time, aimed at each of them. Before Zaalbar could reload, the beast was right on top of him. It tackled him to the ground and roared in the air. Zaalbar head-butted the beast, bridged and rolled to his left, mounting on top of the beast. The beast struggled but Zaalbar had it pinned.

Mission unloaded half of both clips of lasers from her dual Mandalorian rippers into the face and torso of the bull katarns charging at her. She jumped up with a flip in the air, landing on top of it as it neared her. The beast ran around and shook hard, trying to get her off, but Mission grabbed its neck and veered it to the right, steering it straight into the hard trunk of a tree and leaping off at the last second. She rolled on the ground and got back up to face the bull katarns, only to find it running away. "_YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!_" she yelled.

Zaalbar grew tired of the fight against the beast he still had pinned to the ground. When he finally managed to pin two of the beasts' legs behind its head, he clamped down on its mouth with his paw and applied pressure, roaring at the beast. The beast struggled in suffocation, but after forty full seconds, it died.

"[Well at least now we don't have to go hunting for dinner,]" he said to Mission as he got up, cracking the bull katarn's head on his knee.

"Yeah I'm surprised as to how good these things taste after a good barbecue," she replied as she picked up and hoisted her blasters. "Let's go."

They made their way five kilometers to Jolee's old hut and unpacked. Zaalbar carried the tremendous weight of the bull katarns he killed while Mission lugged both of their backpacks. It wasn't a fair trade, but Mission couldn't handle any more than ninety pounds on her back. As they sat down by the fire on their respective stumps, Mission started up another conversation.

"Hey Zaalbar, tell me something. I've noticed your demeanor really changes when we're down here in the Shadowlands, or rather, even when the subject of the Shadowlands is raised. You never join the hunting parties when they come down here; when people talk about the Shadowlands, you tend to shy away, that sort of thing."

"[What is your point Mission?]" growled Zaalbar.

"Hey now, no need to growl at me," snapped Mission. "I was about to say, the way you handled those bulls, I don't smell fear from you, so now I'm a little mystified as to why you don't like this place."

Zaalbar shrugged his shoulders. "[I definitely do not like the Shadowlands. My father was banished to this place for years, but I'm not afraid.]"

"I know it's dangerous down here; I only came about this far from the elevator when Revan took me down here. But when Revan came back, he acted like finding the Star Map and Freyyr was the easiest thing he did since finding you in the Tarisian sewers. And Jolee lived down here for what forty years?"

"[The experience of coming here changes people. It does not test the strength of the spirit like Korriban, nor does it rest a heavy financial burden on the shoulders like Tatooine. I do not know how, but somehow when one stays here too long, their instincts become much more…primitive. Think of it like an infant child being raised to adulthood by penguins on Ando Prime, and then imagine a person like that being introduced to modern civilization.]"

"I'm not sure I get what you're saying," said Mission. "I mean, what makes the Shadowlands so different from any other forest environment…like Dxun?"

Zaalbar contemplated to himself for a moment. "[How to phrase this correctly…]" He paused.

"[When I was growing up in Rwookrrorro, before I was banished, I had a friend named Hrrothgarrr. He lived in another canopy village several leagues away, but regardless we saw each other often. He frequently took trips to join us for hunting parties and have feasts with my family. At our festivals, we would often ask him how things in his village were going, and he very much enjoyed discussing a particular member of his tribe – a murky brown hair colored wookiee named Hanharr.]

"[Hanharr was a big fan of the Shadowlands, taking a liking to it at a very young age. He came down here often, killing things that moved, left and right, simply at will. I never saw him here, but I did meet him once in Hrrothgarrr's village. He was very anti-social…kept to himself. His eyes were the color of blood, and he never stopped moving. He skulked across the walkways of his village, as if hoping to catch the scent of easy prey.]"

"So he was a little twisted. Maybe he was born that way…" Mission interrupted.

"[Hanharr was eventually banished from the villages, to remain in the Shadowlands permanently. We saw him often here once it came to that, but we never dared to approach him. One day, we had plans to meet Hrrothgarrr at Rwookrrorro for a tree climbing contest. When he did not show, father and I trekked to his village, only to find the remnants of a recent massacre. Hrrothgarrr was dead, as was his family and the entire village. Not a single survivor.]

"[The security recordings showed Hanharr reemerging from the Shadowlands and murdering each member of the village with his claws one by one, starting with the children. They were like sheep to his slaughter, and then he turned his fury on the Czerka slavers who's timing of arrival matched. He was captured and taken away by them, and in all my travelling since I was banished, I have not seen him since.]"

"So Hanharr was a product of the Shadowlands then…" deduced Mission. "Otherwise he would have been just another productive member of the village?"

"[Correct,]" mused Zaalbar with a nod of his head.

"Now I understand why you don't like to talk about your past," said Mission. "Not too many happy stories to tell."

"Hrmph! And I thought I was the long and drowning story teller," said another voice that had just entered the area. Mission and Zaalbar spun around to find themselves looking at a Force ghost. "Nice to see the tachs and mynoks haven't eaten up my house while I've been away."

"Jolee!" Mission yelled, not realizing that it was a Force ghost. "I…I can't believe it's you!"

"[What a pleasant surprise,]" said Zaalbar, also not realizing it was a ghost.

"Wait a second…" snapped Mission. "Did you just walk through the fire?"

"I can walk through walls too," said Jolee. "Would you like to see?" Zaalbar let out a musing growl, understanding what was going on, but Mission was still lost.

"I don't understand," said Mission to get straight to the point. "I thought you were spending the rest of your life on Rakata Prime. I didn't think you'd leave…least of all to come back here."

"Oh I didn't…" said Jolee. "Or at least, not in physical form." This comment stunned Mission, more-so than already, and she paused her effort to riddle Jolee with questions to think.

"I still don't understand…" she said flatly. "Are you…dead?"

"Had to happen sometime," said Jolee in a charming and yet somewhat devilish smile. For ten full seconds, Mission simply stared at Jolee without expression. Finally Zaalbar broke the silence by letting out a ferocious growl that scared away a tach monkey.

"I…" Mission stuttered. "You know…I'm actually on the verge of breaking into tears, but it's really hard to mourn your death when you're standing right in front of me."

"Don't you even _think_ about shedding water over me, young lady," grimaced Jolee. "Teenagers have more important things to do than mope around with bad posture while their years and looks slowly creep up and out."

"Yes sir," said Mission flatly. "But as a teenager, I will say that I'm entitled to my curiosity. How'd you go?"

"In Revan's arms," said Jolee. "He found me right before. After seeing him cry like that, I decided I never wanted to see anyone else do that."

"Revan cried? Aww, there's that softness to him Big Z and I know and love." Zaalbar laughed and snorted a bit.

"Yeah well," began Jolee. "As a Force ghost, I can see and to an extent travel through the Force as its essence, and so I do actually have a purpose in coming to see you aside from a pleasant greeting."

"Have an errand to make me go on?" said Mission with a matching devilish grin.

"I find myself in a desperate need to send a message," said Jolee. "But I'm not destined to be a ghost for too long, and strangely I'm a bit immobile. It was tough enough getting here, but the location of Kashyyyk in orbit proved lucky. It'll take me a great deal of time to get to Coruscant, by which it may be too late, and to the Jedi Council, I doubt my credibility is very high."

"What's going on?" asked Mission.

"You need you both to listen to me," said Jolee. "I'm going to tell you the full story of how I died, and then I need you to do something for me."

* * *

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	20. Chapter 19: Easy Prey

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

**

**Chapter 19**

**Easy Prey

* * *

**

Mira snuck through the Refugee sector with relative ease, requiring herself but a mere wrinkling of her pants and untidiness of her hair to pass as just another refugee, despite the expensive looking black leather jacket she wore. Her weapons were concealed, a knife in her boot and a Zabrak Tystel Mark IV pistol inside her jacket. She had come without explosive weaponry in her wrist band, but was always prepared for a fight. She stealthily made her way into the territory of the Serroco; a thuggish gang that consisted of veteran fighters of the Mandalorian War, most of them dishonored or displaced. Coming together, their place was now adjacent to the refugees on Nar Shaddaa, making a living for themselves out of violent wolfish territorial marking. They shot on sight any outsider who attempted to get into their territory, refugee, Exchange, anyone; but for everything Mira knew of them, they weren't too bright.

As planned, her contact, one of the guards inside the base was making his rounds inside the base, but not near the boss's office. He made his way past one of the large open cargo areas, when suddenly Mira's hands grabbed him and yanked him into the area, behind a set of large crates and plasteel cylinders. He made a slight sound on the ground, but the skilled bounty huntress cupped his mouth.

"Surprise," she whispered, uncapping his mouth.

"Urgh," moaned the guard. "Damn Mira. Even with that glowing red hair, bright as a laigrek's eye, we still never find you."

"Yeah yeah, flattery that I don't have time for," snarled Mira.

"Right, sorry."

"And even apologies I don't have time for," snarled Mira again. "What have you brought me this time?"

"This," said the guard slowly taking a piece of parchment from his pocket. She snatched it and gave it a quick glance.

"What's all this?" she asked. "It's encrypted."

"Other side," said the guard, now shifting to a crouching position, still behind the crates. On the back of the paper was the decoded message into Galactic Basic lettering.

_Dear fortuitous recipient,_

_You are hereby requested to seek out and eliminate your red-haired female competitor. Bring her body (either way) to the base of the Gabor Clock Tower in the Corellian Sector to receive payment. Further business shall be handled appropriately from there._

_Good Hunting,_

_\-||-\_

"How'd you get this?" asked Mira.

"Contact in the Pazaak Den, owed me a favor," the guard replied. "Don't worry, he won't be a problem."

"Where's the time stamp on this message?"

"He intercepted it this morning."

"How many recipients?"

"Only one," replied the guard. "Guess whoever wants you figured you were too good a prey for competition."

"Good work," said Mira.

"I didn't recognize the signature," said the guard. "Do you?"

"No," lied Mira. "But I'll find out soon enough. You'd better go on with your rounds."

"You sure you'll be okay?"

"Take a hint Jargon, I don't have time for your concerns either. Now scat."

"Yes ma'am," replied Jargon as he began to rise. As he stood up tall above the crates a bolt from an old school bowcaster pierced his skull and pinned his face to the wall. Mira, almost jumped from surprise, looking at Jargon's dead body nailed to the wall like a badly done crucifix.

Switching to X-ray mode on her visor, she peered through the crates to spot an enemy. Aside from the Serroco thugs that were gathering around the cargo hold she was in, she spotted a large figure attached to the wall with gleaming red eyes and a bowcaster in hand.

"_That better not be who I think it is,_" thought Mira. She had a hunch, but the predicament she was in required her immediate attention than the identity of the shooter.

"We know you're hiding in there!" yelled one of the thugs. "Come out, or we'll blow you to bits!"

Mira made no reply but blind-fired a gas grenade from her wrist launcher over the crate. In the smoke, Mira jumped and hit the top ledge of the cargo hold and pulled herself up. With the thugs growing unconscious, she slid off the bay and sprinted out of there, dodging three bolts from the same bowcaster.

"_Yikes! someone is a fan of archery,_" she thought as she turned the corner and fled the Refugee sector. Though she did not fully know it, the murky brown Wookiee bounty hunter Hanharr was hot on her trail, and that this would be the fight of her life.

* * *

_In the Jedi Temple on Coruscant…_

Bastila was doing her nightly meditations just before bedtime. Dressed in a nightgown, she sat just a few inches above the ground with her double edged lightsaber in front of her. Taking it apart slowly in front of her and putting it back together, she concentrated her powers, just as Jedi loved to do in their spare time. It was relaxing, as her daily duties as a teacher was becoming more and more stressful, as if the masters relied upon her to instruct most of the younglings and apprentices. A year after the final battle had the memory of the Star Forge and Darth Malak still fresh in her mind and she would swear never to let happen the rise of such an evil.

Her thoughts were focused on the present, and they remained so until they were interrupted. Her communicator began to buzz. Bastila summoned it over to her and opened it up.

"Yes?" she said, expecting one of the masters.

"Bastila! It's Mission! Can you hear me?" Mission sounded frantic and almost out of breath, which gave Bastila feelings of concern.

"Mission? Yes I can hear you. What's going on? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Has anyone come after you or Juhani?"

"No, Mission, we're fine. Not a peep from this temple. What's the problem?"

"It's better if I tell you in person," said Mission. "I'm just landing now, the landing pad on the red building three blocks north from the temple."

When they arrived to greet her, Mission didn't even let them hug her before she gave them the news of Jolee's death. The looks of shock on their faces were ignored as she reiterated the story of what happened with Jolee's visit and the immediate aftermath up to the present.

"What does he think Revan will do?" said Bastila with a worried look on her face.

"I don't know; he didn't tell me," replied Mission. "What do _you _think Revan will do? I mean…you know him better than all of us."

"I do?" said Bastila obliviously.

"Aren't they called Force Bonds?"

"Oh right, of course," said Bastila slapping herself. "I don't know what Revan would do. If Jolee gave him any information as to the whereabouts of the Sith, I think that Revan would probably track them down and deliver a blow where it hurts, and then leave to continue chasing whatever it is he was chasing."

"Makes sense," said Mission. "But pure guesswork doesn't solve anything."

"This is terrible," said Juhani deeply closing her eyes. "What is worse, is that I did not feel it."

"Nor did I," said Bastila. "His ghost visited you; that's awfully peculiar."

"Why is that?" asked Mission.

"I just…wouldn't have expected him to go to you first; just a thought." Mission nodded at the response. "What else did he say about Revan?" replied Bastila in a rather suspicious tone.

"Nothing more than what I already told you," said Mission. Bastila scoffed with a rather disappointing look on her face. "Hey!" she snapped. "Don't gimme that look. I'm doing what I have to do, for Jolee. It's not _my _fault he's dead!"

"Calm yourself Mission; Bastila never accused you of anything."

"It's okay," said Bastila. "We're all a little emotional right now. I think we need to talk about this tomorrow. Mission, do you have a place to sleep?"

"My ship…" replied Mission with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You can sleep on the floor in my room," said Bastila. "It'll be much more comfortable."

"Okay, but as you know, I snore."

Juhani cut in. "I do as well. You can sleep in my room then."

"What are we going to do about this?" asked Mission.

"I think Carth needs to know about this," said Bastila. "We'll let him know in the morning. And we can discuss it then."

* * *

_The next morning…_

Carth Onasi sat in his office shuffling through folders and papers, occasionally cursing under his breath. Admiral Dodonna had put a surprising amount of stressful workload on this mere Captain of the navy, but what else could he expect? Overseeing the construction of Citadel Station compiled with the responsibility of running the intelligence teams that were working day and night in their efforts to locate and pinpoint suspicious activity happening in the outer rim.

The navy was the heart of the Republic's strength, and since the end of Malak, the Republic had been trying to put in place a new security formation. The old system was an inefficient system of star system patrol, in which the fleets would be constantly on the move. Any system that had experienced trouble would have to manually send a message to the Republic, and if they were lucky, a fleet would be close to them. One could also only imagine how this was a horrific inefficient waste of resources. But the conservative party had pushed reform in the Senate, and had been fairly successful in gathering support from the more moderate members of the liberal party. Now it was a matter of putting these policies into action and making them a reality.

With enlistments in the Republic navy higher than ever before, the Republic finally had the numbers it needed to put forth this plan. Every planet under Republic control had at least one naval garrison on it, but it was intended for scouting and intelligence gathering rather than actual combat. They would launch probes and drones out into space and out to remote regions of these worlds simply for the purposes of observing any unusual activity were it to happen.

The army, which worked cohesively with the navy in its operations, had a brigade of men at each base, but their presence was mostly for show; to give the impression that the Republic has things under control and can respond immediately. However, due to the reform, this was now actually the case, but the demonstration was still necessary. The token garrisons were defended but any serious threat would be able to take it with ease, and the defending soldiers knew it. It was the worst spot to be in tactically, but those in the army who craved action had the best chance of finding it there.

The closer inward to the core the planet, the larger the garrison and stronger the Republic's protection efforts, but that did not mean that the outer planets were easy prey. The naval fleets, which much of the funding was allocated towards, were each given a sphere of responsibility. Space stations and harbor nexuses placed at strategic hyperspace positions in their respective zones would quarter the ships and the men. In the event of an attack or emergency, the fleets would be notified immediately and could promptly respond with overwhelming force within a few hours, and no more than a day.

And that left Carth buried up to his eyeballs in work, overseeing all of these projects. He was merely a Staff Captain, but essentially had all of the non-political responsibilities of an Admiral. He knew that he would attain that rank eventually, for Dodonna seemed to depend so much upon him. The process by which one would attain the rank of Fleet Admiral was a hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee, but Dodonna was too caught up in other matters and did not yet have the time to present his case to them; a case which she would have to be present herself at. At least Carth didn't have to directly deal with the politics of Coruscant the way Dodonna often had to. Every time he'd ask her how it was going, she'd say: 'Same old shit…'

A knock came on his door. "Come in," he said. "As you were, Lieutenant," he said, ignoring the salute. "What's up?"

"Sir I have the third week's report on Goto."

"I expected that report over an hour ago," Carth snapped. "What kept you?"

"No excuses, sir," replied the Lieutenant.

"That's what I like to hear," said Carth. "Dismissed." The Lieutenant saluted one last time and left the room.

The third week's report on Goto's work had been roughly the same as the previous two. The droid was performing more than efficiently. Goto was brilliant. It was borderline psychic in its predictions of weather conditions and absolutely precise in its calculations to the trillionth decimal point. The droid behaved like a top notch businessman, working efficiently beyond the scope of human capabilities to aid the environment of Telos, at this point in terms of planetary shields but for overall advice in where to place investments for alternative energy. Despite the warmth of the sun only four planets away, there was a chilling breeze that countered it, making at least the alive parts of Telos spectacular.

"_At least that's going well…_" thought Carth as he continued juggling the work. Suddenly his office communicator began to sing. "Yes?" he growled.

"Sir, I've got Bastila Shan on the line for you. She has a security clearance."

"Yeah, put her through; my eyes and ears only," said Carth. Bastila appeared on the holotransmitter with Juhani and Mission next to her. "Mission?" said Carth. "I thought you were on Kashyyyk."

"Coruscant now," said Mission. "But it's just me this time. Big Z's back there."

"Carth we have a pressing matter to discuss," said Juhani. "To the point where I do not believe we will have time for small talk."

"I don't have that time either," said Carth. "What's going on?"

"Jolee is dead," said Bastila before Mission could say it.

Carth sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "So much for 'many years' left," he said. "How'd he go?"

They brought Carth up to speed on everything and experienced quite the same reactionary look of horror on his face.

"I see," said Carth. "What do you think we should do?"

"We cannot afford to do anything rash," said Juhani. "But I do not believe we can simply ignore this."

"We can't strike against what we can't perceive," said Bastila.

"Talk of striking is very premature," said Juhani. "We do not even know if it _was_ them, and even if it was, we do not know what they are after." For several seconds there was a complete pause in the conversation, but they all simply stared at each other.

"I know what you're all thinking," said Carth. "There is no way the Sith have the capabilities to take out the entire Jedi Order. That's a pretty paranoid thought."

"What if they do?" asked Juhani. "Let us just assume for the time being that it was the Sith. What if they do have the capabilities and intend to carry this out?"

"But Jolee never even made the rank of knight," pointed Mission. "He hardly has any ties to the Jedi. That would make him an unlikely first target."

"What if he is not the first target?" asked Juhani. "We could not feel Jolee's death. Perhaps another died before him that we also could not feel."

"Not to mention," said Carth. "He kept his lightsaber. That sort of makes him a Jedi, doesn't it?"

"We're asking the wrong questions," said Bastila. "Mission told us all that she knew, but it isn't enough to jump to conclusions. Whatever the remnants of the Sith are up to, they have managed to conceal themselves long enough to stay that way. A year is a long time to disappear."

"Not for me," bragged Mission. "I can probably do it in a week."

"Mission, when it comes to stealth, there is the Sith, and then there is you," said Juhani with a smile.

"So what then?" asked Mission. "I think we need to investigate, if anything just for preventive action."

"And what leads have you to start?" asked Juhani. "None but the word of a Force ghost."

"I trust that word," said Mission. "You're both Jedi. You ought to trust that word also."

"I do trust Jolee's words and wisdom," said Bastila. "But if the Sith are as cunning as we think they are from what happened, then they will have covered their tracks. Investigation may not have much use."

"Unfortunately," said Juhani. "All we can do for the time being is remain alert and to keep ourselves together. If the Sith are indeed planning something, I believe that the Force shall give us a warning before it is too late."

"And what if you're wrong?" asked Carth. "You're leaning on a thin crutch, at least from my perspective."

"The Force is _not_ a thin crutch," replied Juhani. "When a Jedi links the mind to…"

"Enough," said Bastila cutting Juhani off. "Mission, I don't want to underplay the fact that Jolee was assassinated, but there is another possibility that we are not considering."

"And what'd that be?"

"The possibility of this being absolutely nothing; that perhaps Jolee was mislead in his belief that the Sith have perhaps mustered together all of their forces and are beginning to perform some genocidal 'purge'. His is a farfetched theory, don't you think?"

"No," replied Mission.

"Make no mistake, if Jolee said it, then I believe that he believes it. But that does not mean that his initial source was credible. For all we know the man who killed him could have just said that in a cold blooded tone to frighten him, and throw him off guard. That move is not unheard of."

"And this non-Sith person somehow is tough enough in the mind to convince Jolee that he was telling the truth?" interjected Mission.

"I'm not sure even I know where you're going with this Bastila," said Carth.

"What I'm saying is," continued Bastila. "We have been hunting the Sith ourselves for so long and we've come up with nothing. The Sith are cunning, but even with the Force, they cannot escape us. If they truly are out there in substantial numbers, we Jedi will detect them. I'm just saying we may be thinking a bit too wishfully here. Be mindful of the placebo effect."

"Wishfully!" cried Mission. "You think I made all this up because I _wish_ for something awful?"

"I accused you of no such thing!" snapped Bastila. "I'm just saying…"

"You're clearly accusing me of something!" retorted Mission.

"Enough! _ENOUGH!_" yelled Carth. "The situation's heated up enough as it is, and I don't have time for an argument. We're all really emotional right now, but I think I understand where Bastila is coming from. Both the Jedi and Republic have been frustrated at the lack of results in terms of our search for the remaining Sith forces. Finding this out and jumping to the conclusion that the Sith are returning to hunt Jedi, or whatever the hell we make up as a conspiracy theory may be our emotions talking for us. Bastila isn't confirming anything, but she's not just saying 'Eh, it's probably nothing,' with a shoulder shrug either. Am I right?"

"You are," replied Bastila. "Mission, I'm not accusing you of not thinking straight. I'm not accusing you of _anything_. My point was that we do not have enough accurate information to jump to any possible conclusion, or even to launch an investigation leaning one way or another. At this moment, we don't have a choice but to sit on it for now."

"That doesn't make sense," said Mission.

"It does actually," said Bastila. "But I can see it not making any sense to you."

"Gee," sneered Mission. "Next time why don't you just slap me with the _front_ of your hand?"

"Mission…" warned Carth in somewhat of a parental tone, but Bastila cut him off.

"If the Sith really are after us Jedi, if we start poking around, we may fall right into a trap. If they're not, then we've just wasted our time for nothing. Let's not make the same mistake as Revan did against the Mandalorians."

"Don't you dare!" growled Carth. "Now is not the time to get into that, and the last thing you want is to get me started on that subject."

"Right," said Bastila. "Sorry."

"Bastila's point stands though," said Juhani. "And Mission, we are not 'doing nothing'. We shall be patient, and we shall keep our senses attuned and alert for the time being. If there is a pattern of events, we shall find out in due time."

"Is there anything on my end you want done?" asked Carth.

"I think you ought to tell Canderous," said Mission. "But shouldn't we tell the Jedi council about this?"

"The last thing we need is a widespread panic, especially a rather unfounded one," said Carth. "You can't find a pattern from only one."

"But you don't think telling the council will start a panic, do you?" replied Mission.

"Telling the council is useless," said Bastila. "What they'll do is they'll start worrying about why they could not feel Jolee's death through the Force. We had that concern but then moved on. They'll concern themselves with that, and nothing else."

"So we just keep the circle small?" asked Mission.

"I think that's the best course of action," said Carth. "I'll let Canderous know. By the way, in case you're curious, Canderous is due to retire in a couple of months."

"I did not think that man was capable of taking off that armor," said Juhani somewhat bitterly.

"I didn't think so either," replied Carth with a smile. "But he is."

"Very good," said Bastila. "Thank you Carth. Good luck in your work. We shall inform you of any further updates. Bastila out…" The transmission was cut and Carth went back to his work.

"I still don't like it," said Mission.

"Just trust me, Mission," said Bastila. "You're not a child anymore, but if you become fixed on a phantom menace, you may find yourself in over your head, with no progress since day one."

"I refuse to believe that Jolee's murder was the only action the Sith are planning to do. I know it's them at work. It's in my gut, and my gut is never wrong. I'm going to look into it."

"I agree with Bastila," said Juhani. "That is a bad idea."

"I'm a scoundrel," said Mission. "I can disappear and never be found if I wanted to. And I used to do undercover investigative work for the Beks for a time on Taris. Besides, if you're worried about the Sith hunting Jedi, you can stop that now because I ain't one."

Mission turned to head back to her ship, but Bastila put her hand gently upon her shoulder. "Mission," she said. "Please don't do this."

Mission dusted Bastila's hand off her shoulder. "Maybe this time, you ought to trust me. Besides, the people most secure in this galaxy are the ones who keep moving."

"You've made up your mind," said Bastila. "I won't try to stop you. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I do," Mission assured her. "And by the way, I'm sorry I bitched at you like that and accused you of accusing me of things you didn't actually accuse me of."

"We understand your anxiousness," said Juhani. "Do not worry, all is forgiven."

Mission hugged them both one by one again. "Stay safe you two."

As the pretty seventeen year old twi'lek hit the skies, Juhani laughed. "Much too willful that one," she said. "You did not actually think you could keep her here, did you?"

"Of course not," said Bastila with a reciprocated smile. "But I never stop trying."

"She is a survivor," said Juhani. "She will be fine."

* * *

_Four days later…_

"Captain, Commander Ordo has arrived," said Lieutenant Boggs."

"Good, bring him in," replied Carth. Canderous walked in and gave Carth a full salute. "As you were soldier," said Carth. "There'll be no need for formalities at this particular meeting Canderous. You can lighten up."

"Fair enough," said Canderous. "You seem a little peppier than usual, if you don't mind my commenting."

"Not exactly peppy," said Carth. "I'm saddled with a pretty heavy workload, but this is important, so I don't want to put this off. There might not be a later time."

"What's going on?" asked Canderous.

"What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room," said Carth.

Canderous sat down to give Carth his full attention. "What's up?"

Carth explained everything that had happened four days ago.

"Yup, that sounds like Mission," snickered Canderous. "But I can't say I disagree with her."

"You don't think she's being just a little paranoid?" asked Carth.

"Her 'just a little paranoia' has kept her alive in the streets of one of the most dangerous cities in this galaxy. Sometimes, I think she has better instincts than Revan."

"You're kidding…" stammered Carth.

Canderous shook his head. "If there was anyone to investigate the old man's death, it'd be her. But you can bet that this pattern isn't going to be a pattern of one for long."

"I'm fairly certain of that," said Carth.

"Well I appreciate being told," said Canderous. "It's a damn shame too. We didn't talk much, but I liked him; would have made a formidable opponent on the battlefield."

Carth rolled his eyes. "Typical judgment basis for you I suppose," he gimmicked.

"You can take off your armor, switch sides, and die a natural civilian death, but the warrior within you only fades away."

"Speaking of taking off your armor," said Carth. "Now we come down to that matter of business. Graduation for the recruits is tomorrow right?" Canderous nodded. "When I told Major Joel that you were coming here, he told me to relay a few commands from him."

"What's the big man want this time?"

"He wants your recommendation amongst your subordinates as to who will take your place. He assumes you've trained a proxy to take over your command."

"Yeah I've got the paperwork all filled out. He'll do the job just the same."

"Good," said Carth. "I'll let the major know of that. You'll need to get it in A.S.A.P. And on the final note, he told me to tell you that your retirement funds have been wired to your account, as well as the veterans and special services bonuses you get at the end your military service. I printed the statement for you." Carth handed Canderous the document.

Canderous looked at it. "Wow, is that my balance, or my social security number?" he said sarcastically.

"My thoughts exactly," snickered Carth. "Couldn't help but to look; so what's the plan now?"

"The plan is to kick back and mellow out," lied Canderous. "It hasn't changed since last time I told you. I vision a jaw full of scruff, a blushing bride, and a little spit of land I can call my own."

"A very poetic dream indeed," said Carth. "Well I don't suppose there's anything I could say that will get you to change your mind about retiring, so I'll wish you the best of luck. Maybe we'll see each other again, but should it not, it's been an honor." Carth extended his hand.

"I may be registered as a citizen of the Republic Carth," began Canderous as he caught Carth's hand. "But I'm still a Mandalorian. The honor is mine." The handshake turned into a manly embrace between two soldiers, born in opposite sides and joined together by the will of the Force to help destroy Darth Malak.

"Take care of yourself," said Carth as they drew backward. Canderous stood at full attention and saluted Carth. Carth returned the salute, and Canderous turned to exit the room.

As Canderous made his way back to his shuttle, his thoughts dwelled on Revan again. "_I need an army Canderous…and I want you to lead it._" He could hear these words echo from Revan's voice in his head.

"Alright Revan," he muttered as he entered the vessel. "You'll have your army."

* * *

_Three days later…_

"Fool!" bellowed Kreia to one of the other Sith teachers. "To lack skill in manipulation is as great a weakness as to lack skill in physical brawl. Manipulation is an art that would take a lifetime like my own to master. With it, you can not only defeat your enemy, but bend him to your own will. What greater weapon is there, than to turn an enemy to your side? The Jedi are fools, but they are powerful fools. Going up against them by smashing doors down the way Malak did was a testament of idiocy, and as dark lady, I intend to rectify that. Learn to fight more like Revan; not his jawless understudy."

"Forgive me, lady Traya," said the teacher. "I did not wish to upset you."

Kreia scoffed. "It would take more than the words of a mindless child to truly upset me. You may find this to be the best lesson for your students. Now away with you…" The other master bowed and left the room. Kreia scoffed again.

Teaching these students in the true ways of power and trying to get them to open their minds and rethink the lessons of the old fools who previously taught them was hard work. The victory would not come from raw strength. The victory would come through the slow process of wear and tear, a process only Kreia seemed to have the patience for.

"Lady Traya!" said one of the Sith officers entering the room. He bowed and said nothing, awaiting a response from her.

"What is it?" she said.

"We intercepted an audio fragment of a conversation on a secure Republic channel one week ago, and we just finished decrypting it. We thought you may want to hear it."

"Very well," said Kreia. "Let us take a listen."

_…And Mission, we are not 'doing nothing'. We shall be patient, and we shall keep our senses attuned and alert for the time being. If there is a pattern of events, we shall find out in due time."_

"_Is there anything on my end you want done?"_

"_I think you ought to tell Canderous. But shouldn't we tell the Jedi council about this?"_

"_The last thing we need is a widespread panic, especially a rather unfounded one. You can't find a pattern of only one."_

"_But you don't think telling the council will start a panic, do you?"_

"_Telling the council is useless. What they'll do is they'll start worrying about why they could not feel Jolee's death through the Force. We had that concern and then moved on. They'll concern themselves with that, and nothing else."_

"_So we just keep the circle small?"_

"_I think that's the best course of action. I'll let Canderous know. By the way, in case you're curious, Canderous is due to retire in two months."_

"_I did not think he was capable of taking off that armor._

"_I didn't think so either. But he is."_

"_Very good. Thank you Carth. Good luck in your work. We shall inform you of any further updates. Bastila out."_

"The transmissions end there ma'am," said the officer.

Kreia thought for a moment. "This is interesting," she said. "I am rather surprised that they learned about Bindo's death so quickly. Do we know how?"

"No ma'am," said the officer. "This is all we got from the conversation."

"Amusing," said Kreia. "By any chance, did you catch a glimpse as to Bastila's tone of voice?" The officer shook his head, and was about to reply but Kreia cut him off. "She is rather jittery, and she predicted the council's exact move. Do you know why she can do this?"

"Battle mediation?" guessed the officer. "That was why Malak wanted her so badly."

"A good guess," said Kreia. "But no. It is from the influence of Revan. It was Revan who showed her the true ways of the council. It was Revan who told her that, directly or not. Why else do you think she is not a member of the council? She secretly shares a distrust for them and their so called wisdom.

"In a way, this makes her much wiser than the average Jedi, and thus much more difficult prey. But she is not the prey; not for the moment. But that is beside the point. I know Revan told her that, because those are nearly the exact words I told Revan when I last saw him. Now that Revan is gone, she misses him; and thus her saying of that was to remind herself of him and his influence. It would have helped had he made her understand, but she may be just a bit too willful to accept the facts. And the agitating impulse it has caused makes me believe that she cannot and will not stay in this state of deliberation for long. That is why I found amusing."

"I don't understand," said the officer.

"No of course you do not understand," growled Kreia. "Now away with you." The officer bowed and left the room. Kreia walked over to the computer and put in the code. Darth Sion's holograph appeared in front of her.

"Yes…master?" growled Sion.

"Mind your tone, apprentice," said Kreia. "Plans have changed. The timetable must be pushed just a bit forward. You are to carry out your next assignment at your discretion. Strike when you are ready."

"With pleasure."

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	21. Chapter 20: Space Truckin'

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

Chapter 20  
**

**Space Truckin'

* * *

**

It was a solid two months of straight travel for the Ebon Hawk through the Crispin System. While Mira was running from her shadow stalker, while Mission was exploring Rakata Prime, and while Bastila and Juhani went about their daily business with an extra sense of precaution, Revan and his crew were enjoying spending time with each other in the vast open black of space, with nothing but a massive asteroid field around them.

They'd find a comfortable asteroid at the end of every day to set the ship down for the night. The travel had been fairly slow, but there was nothing else they could do. Once every week, the whole crew would be asleep, but T3-M4 and HK-47 would fly the ship through the day. The droids flew the machine as easily as they could move themselves. All in an effort to keep Revan away from the controls, which frustrated him endlessly.

The Crispin System was a home to a large asteroid belt, the single planet called Crispin which lay beyond the western exit of the asteroid field, and a minefield to the south and west of it. The asteroid field consisted of small asteroids mostly floating in space without a purpose as well as a high concentration of methane gas, and all who ventured beyond the Crispin System – provided they made it past the asteroid belt were never seen again.

The only story Revan had to go on was the one that Canderous had told him on Dantooine about the Mandalorian encounter with an unknown ship that melted their armor like wax with thermal projectiles and then escaped them past the asteroid field. Canderous had called any venture past the belt to be a suicide mission. Yet the True Sith Empire lay beyond, and Revan knew it. There was no way he could attempt to simply shoot straight through the asteroid belt in hyperspace. No one had given him the astrogation charts, so the only way was to manually maneuver through them. And in the lamest of terms, it was a bitch.

The days were filled with the crew talking amongst themselves, getting to know each other better, but Revan kept to himself more-so than not. He dedicated four hours of each day to training his lightsaber skills in the cargo hold with the holocron of Tulak Hord. This ancient Sith Lord could not be more brilliant. Revan cared not for the fact that Hord merely belonged to the Sith, and not the True Sith. There was so much to learn from him, and it kept his attitudes at utmost humility. It gave Revan a sense of how much he still had left to learn, not just of lightsaber combat, but of the Force itself.

The higher mysteries were his to explore, but so much was out there. To truly see the galaxy through the Force without limits or constraints was something Revan was still getting used to, as part of the revelation was how much of the beauty had been shielded from his eyes. As Jedi or Sith, one sees what the Force allows them to see through its lens. But now, to view the interconnectedness of all life to the energy that made up the atom was still a bit overwhelming.

However, amongst the crew was a growing bond of friendship that had been sparking ever since the beginning of the journey. Revan could not help but to be thankful that he had not foolishly turned Dustil and Yuthura aside. Dustil and Lena especially clicked with each other in terms of Lena's ability to feed Dustil information and for Dustil to persist with more questions. Revan was amused by this, for Dustil seemed more like his father with every passing day; a constant skeptic and always rather restless with his thinking. Revan would also often find himself chatting it up with Yuthura. They ran out of stories to tell each other fairly quickly, or so Revan would think, but he always had something to say. He just tended to keep it to himself unless the questions were begged.

"Feels like barely a week doesn't it?" said Yuthura.

"I'll say," said Revan, taking another swing with his saber towards Yuthura. "And you're getting a little better at ducking my hits."

"It comes with adaptive training," replied Yuthura. "Or maybe you're just getting sloppy." Yuthura deflected another swing and then aimed a high speed thrust at him, but Revan slickly dodged and ended up behind her. He tapped her on the shoulder and then struck her at the side of the head, his body flipping over her while Yuthura fell to the floor.

"Sloppy, huh?" said Revan.

"I seem to recall doing something like that back on Dxun," said Lena as she entered the cargo hold. "Who'd have thought you'd learn something from me _before_ I trained you."

"Guilty," said Revan with a smile. "I've had a notion to try that ever since I saw you do it."

"Except when I did it, it hardly worked," said Lena.

"Yeah, that's because you did it wrong," said Revan with another devilish grin. "No power in the galaxy can stop me."

"Oh yeah big guy?" said Lena as she slipped off her robe over her normal garments. "Let's see you try that on me."

"Alright," said Revan. "Mandalorian-style. No Force powers, just raw skill."

"And…_FIGHT!_" yelled Yuthura.

Revan and Lena went at it like the martial arts masters that they were. No lightsabers were drawn yet, but their speed and power was unmatched against each other, and yet neither of them actually landed a hit. They moved with blinding fast strikes with their natural weapons punching and kicking, yet frustrated by their inability to land a blow.

It had been a while, and still neither of them had run out of energy. Though they weren't using the Force directly, it was flowing through them and keeping them going. Yuthura yawned, but she knew that Dustil would appreciate this. "Hey Dustil!" she called. "Come check this out!"

"Flying a ship through a field of rocks that even the slightest dent could fill the ship through the hull with methane gas, knocking out the life support, and asphyxiating the crew seems to take priority," countered Dustil with a bit of a painful groan.

"Well when you put it that way…" retorted Yuthura. "Maybe I should fly."

"What's going on back there anyway?"

"Oh nothing," said Yuthura. "Just a classic case of unstoppable forces meeting immovable objects…"

"You're kidding." But before Yuthura could reply, Dustil was already there, with T3-M4 at the helm. "Wow, you _weren't_ kidding." Yuthura shook her head. "How long has this been going for?"

"Ten minutes at least."

"Know how to end a never-ending fight?" asked Dustil.

"I'd _love_ to see you try," said Yuthura.

"Start loving." He walked over to the main supply casing. "Say…what have we here? Stuffed shells…Revan's favorite; and there's only one packet left. I'm sure he won't mind if I…help myself…"

"He minds…!" said Revan looking at Dustil. When he turned again to face Lena, she was behind him. She tapped him on the shoulder, and as he looked behind him, she struck him in the face, sending him into the floor while she flipped over him."

"And I win…" said Lena somewhat smugly. "No power in the galaxy can stop me."

"So did I," said Dustil. "I didn't think that would actually work."

"And all because I got tired of a stalemate," said Yuthura rolling her eyes.

"That definitely wasn't a stalemate," sneered Lena. "A stalemate is a rival situation that doesn't go anywhere."

"Sorry; did the both of you move an inch or two in one direction while I wasn't looking?" said Yuthura.

"I backed her up by about half a yard," said Revan. "Three yards more and she'd be at the wall."

"And that was the plan, master and commander?" said Lena.

"Would have won the fight eventually," said Revan. "Just took a little time to do it on my own terms."

"And that would have taken another hour, and I didn't feel like waiting that long," said Yuthura. "But I'm with Revan. He would have won."

"Maybe," said Lena rolling her eyes. "Maybe not."

"And by Lena's definition, this'd be a stalemate," said Dustil, and the crew laughed.

"It's not too often I get to childishly play around like this," said Revan getting back up. "I mean…it feels great, but there's always that odd feeling you get once you've been doing a little something that's more immature than usual, and you think you yourself, 'why am I enjoying this? Shouldn't I be above this kind of kiddy horseplay?' Am I right?"

"Being mature is knowing when to be immature," said Lena.

"What else are we to do when we're out here in the corner of 'no' and 'where' without a bearing" said Yuthura. "I say it's healthy."

"It's especially healthy," said Lena. "At least…in Force terms it is. Remember, as living beings we create the Force through our emotions, feelings, and thoughts. As our friendships continue to grow, so does the Force continue to manifest itself in all of us."

"How do you do it?" said Dustil. "I mean…I've seen Jedi and Sith alike do some crazy things, but both of you seem to be able to take these things to a whole different caliber. It's like…let's say I make up a form or set…some kind of exercise with a lightsaber, like the one I made last week. I show it to one of you, and after seeing me do it _once_…you do the form, and you do it better than me! Especially you Revan…"

"Is that why you chose to distract me instead of her?" asked Revan.

"Eh…" said Dustil. "Reasons are scarce for half the random stuff I do, right?" The crew laughed again.

"Alright Dustpan," said Lena. "Relieve T3 of his substitutions and resume flying this baby. HK, you go with him. Thor, go do my laundry."

"Do your own laundry," snarled Yuthura, knowing that Lena was joking.

"Well find something useful to do to pass the time," Lena replied. "My laundry won't do itself, but if that doesn't float your boat, there's a nice collection of dust bunnies reproducing like mitosis in the garage underneath that swoop bike. Mom and dad need to talk for while."

"Aye aye," said Yuthura, leaving the room.

"Don't I usually give the orders around here?" said Revan to Lena.

"Speak up next time then Captain. But fine, I'll leave that to you. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something. I've been getting a strong notion that we haven't much longer to go in this asteroid field, and it's only a matter of time till we reach some form of civilization."

"Thought occurred to me as well," said Revan. "Are you worried we're walking into a trap?"

"Wouldn't rule it out," said Lena. "But my real thoughts are, we've been experiencing more than enough luxury over this slow space truck, but it's bound to end soon, and I'm worried we still don't have much to go on."

"Because you've never seen Crispin, you're worried we may end up in the wrong place at the wrong time without even knowing," said Revan.

"Forgot you could read my mind occasionally," said Lena. "But yeah, something like that."

"As far as I can tell," replied Revan. "It pretty much can't be helped. We're just going to have to trust our instincts and tread carefully. Unless you got a better idea."

"I may," said Lena. "But it hasn't been working much for me. You've got some successful history with it, so maybe we could try your luck."

"And what pray tell is 'it'?"

"Premonition," said Lena flatly. "I think you may be able to do it consciously now."

Revan thought for a moment. "When you say premonition, are you referring to looking into the future, or are you referring to those lovely nightmares I used to have that'd blast me off the bed when I'd wake from them?"

"Both," said Lena. "And neither. The future is always in motion; to try and look into it and see as much as possible so we can decide for ourselves whether or not that is acceptable is not what I have in mind…not to mention quite dangerous. But every once in a while the Force gives a being a potential destiny, and that's what it did to you. And among other ways, that brought you to me…or me to you. Whichever one you'd like to consider it."

"What's your point Lena?" said Revan, annoyed by the cryptic words. "You want me to intentionally lure Force energy into my head so to give me another dream like the ones I used to have with Star Maps and visions of the past and future?"

"I don't _want_ you to do anything that you don't think is wise," said Lena somewhat innocently. "I'm not going to push you towards any particular path like I did as your teacher. I'm merely making a suggestion to you as your first mate and your friend. I don't like flying blind. The unknown has to become known, and if there's a way to at least make some of it known before going headfirst into it, then I think that's worth exploring."

"I'll think about it," replied Revan. "That'll be all. You go take your usual 1400 nap now."

Lena smiled and saluted. "Aye aye."

* * *

_Far away in the Katorrs System…_

It was a remote system located in the Outer Rim, among the northernmost planets in the galaxy, not too many light years away from the border of Wild Space. The most civilized planet in the system was Adumar, and orbiting it were two moons: Richloo and Artagnan. All three of these worlds were stable temperate environments, grooming with mostly harmless forms of wildlife; harmless that is to human beings. The moon of Artagnan was a private moon, bought and paid for decades ago by the family of former Jedi Master Lucien Draay.

Lucien Draay was a Jedi Prodigy; son of war hero Barrison Draay, and his wife Krynda. He was once a member of the Jedi High Council, and headmaster of the Jedi Covenant, an organization founded by his mother to prevent the return of the Sith at all costs after the demise of Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma. The covenant's history had been turbulent and complicated to say the least. It was responsible for the massacre of four Jedi Padawans on the verge of their knighthood, but by Lucien's actions as well as those of his own Padawan Zayne Carrick, the covenant successfully killed and prevented the rise of another Sith Lord, Hazzen, also known as Darth Hayze, who with the power of the gauntlet of Kressh the Younger (a Sith alchemic glove with the ability to make the user literally untouchable without their own consent), had the ability to confront and destroy both Darth Revan and Darth Malak and take over the Sith. When given the opportunity to become a Jedi Knight after Hazzen was defeated, Zayne refused and left the Order completely, leaving Lucien with nothing but the pain of his own success and failure.

With Hayze destroyed and Zayne gone, Lucien, eyesight taken from him from the last battle with the Sith Lord, retired to this private estate and began working to create a True Covenant of Jedi, embracing the activist philosophy of curbing imminent foreseeable threats, while understanding that some things were completely out of their control, and all they could do was live for the moment, and survive. Survive, and then reproduce. Impossible as it may seem, the goal was to last for as long as possible, and it could be done…at least for a while. Lucien knew that the Jedi Order would meet its end eventually. It was simply a matter of doing what he could to prolong that in the name of the virtues and mores.

This unknown faction of the Jedi Order had been in place for three years as of today, and following the celebration, the old and blind master bid his five Padawans a good night. It was a solid celebration, cake and drinks for all. But most importantly, it was also a day of rigorous training. For the obligation Lucien had to his students was to teach them the Jedi arts for their own survival, but who doesn't crave to see a Jedi in action? Girls are always impressed by those kinds of skills; but of course Lucien would never tell his Padawans this master plan to get them bonded to another. The tired mentor took a large yawn as he entered his bedroom.

But Lucien froze before he could fall into his comfortable bed. Something terrible had happened…or was happening right now. The Force was giving him a warning, tingling through his senses, and detection aside from what the Force was telling him was difficult. The only practical thought glooming about his head aside from the brief moments of panic was to see to the safety of his Padawans…but from what? He did not know, nor was he eager to find out, but he had to. This incredibly small society (consisting of six Jedi, including Lucien) was still in the process of sovereign establishment. It could be nothing. Yet the Force's cue was very strong; stronger than usual. No…it couldn't be nothing.

He rushed to the training chamber, where he sensed the strongest presence of the Force. Someone was here; their heartbeat he could feel, but the feeling was rather scrambled. At least one of his Padawans was in that room; which one it was did not matter to him. All five of them were important. To Lucien, they were the next generation of his Covenant, and he was determined to keep them alive for at least long enough for them to pass their teachings on to someone else.

He entered the room to witness a horrific sight through the Force. It was not the sight of his unwelcome guest that rattled his nerves, despite the aberrant appearance. It was the sight of this man's actions. And Lucien could now, through the Force, feel it. All five of Lucien's Padawans lay dead on the floor, their heads cleanly severed from their torsos.

Darth Sion was sitting idly on the floor and juggling all five of the heads with his hands. He stopped doing so and stood up to face the Jedi Master. The heads rolled away into separate corners. Before Lucien could gasp or drop his jaw, Sion spoke.

"The great Lucien Draay; we meet at last."

"What…what have you done!" shrieked Lucien, a spark of anger slowly building past the suppression point. "My apprentices! My family! You sick sadistic murdering _bastard!_"

"Yes yes," laughed Sion. "You have destroyed all my work, the Jedi have no hope or future now, everything I have built towards flushed down the toilet, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah _blah!_"

"How could you do this! What did I do to you! I don't even _know_ you!"

"Get a grip on your pants before they fall off Master Draay," demanded Sion. "I would have thought a wise Jedi like yourself would understand this kind of action, and perhaps even share a laugh at the irony of it. Was it not upon your actions so many years ago, this exact same type of execution!"

"That was different!" yelled Lucien. "And it was a mistake! A mistake I've learned to forgive myself for! And how the hell do you know about that?"

"Indeed," mused Sion, ignoring the question. "But the pain still lurks beneath the cool exterior. I can feel it…and you know full well of what I speak of."

"Who are you?" said Lucien quieting his tone slightly. "And this time, why don't you answer my damn question?"

"I am you," said Sion. "Your alternate; your darker and better half; I am what you could have been, had you not embraced the insipid weakness of mortality."

Lucien shielded his emotions over the loss of his apprentices and thought for a moment, furrowing his brow. He could not come to terms with it, not this quickly; but for the moment, his wits were more needed than his tears. "I must admit you still have me at a bit of a disadvantage. Would you by any chance be…Darth Luzion?"

"Darth Sion…actually," said Sion. Lucien exhaled with the answer finally revealed to him, and a faint smile appeared from his mouth. All hints of emotion beneath his breath were suppressed. A moment of clarity for the old Jedi Master perhaps, but his demeanor turned from sad and angry to mildness and enlightenment. Sion noticed it immediately. "You change moods like your late mother when she carried you in the womb."

"You have no idea what you've just done," said Lucien.

"I believe I have just guaranteed myself a fight with the famous Jedi Master; a fight I have been looking forward to for quite some time now."

"It's not that," said Lucien. "That will happen; but you did not expect I would just rashly attack you without scolding you on the errors of your ways?"

"By all means," said Sion, now returning the smile. "Conventional wisdom is hardly a premise in a place like this."

"You've murdered my apprentices," began Lucien. "It is no matter. As you said, insipidness of mortality. Their death was bound to happen, whether by your blade, blaster shot, old age, suicide, cancer, motor accident, etc. It was not something I or anyone could prevent, and so your actions are quite meaningless; not emotionally meaningless for me in the short term, but overall meaningless. It was not my belief that the Jedi would live forever, and perhaps this is the beginning of the end for us. Fine…fair enough. The Force is the ultimate justice; the will a product of our lives; and if it wishes us death, who are we to refuse?"

"Interesting perspective," retorted Sion. "Especially coming from someone who shaped his career upon thwarting the return of Sith like me."

Lucien shrugged his shoulders. "I did what I believed I had to do. If I could not change what others would do in the future, I would change what I do. I would choose a different role. I would do the impossible, like my father did in his time…and as I look back, I've been damn successful; and nothing you do could ever change that. Whatever damage you do, whether by killing my apprentices, killing me, burning my library, nuking my moon, will not make a bit of a difference; for my influence and my teachings will live on. The True Covenant is an idea; and though institutions and people may die; ideas are laserproof."

"And if the Force decides to rid the galaxy of your teachings and ideas; who would you be to refuse?" countered Sion.

"Which brings us to the full circle," replied Lucien. "I sealed that fate a long time ago when I turned down Hazzen's offer. His death took away my sense of sight, and with that brief moment of pain, I saw the truth. One such as you, who bathes in a vat of razors, could never understand this but the insipidness of mortality belongs to all.

"Dictated by the Force; the ultimate justice of this galaxy, all who are born are destined to die, and all who die are destined to be reborn. A continuing cycle of life and death; similar to the continuing cycle of chaos and order; one follows the other, and neither can exist without the other. The ideas and legacies left by me carry through their souls to the next. It's immaterial Sion; metaphysically immaterial as our souls themselves. The Force needs these ideas to sustain itself. No matter how much you try; no matter how much pain and hardship you think you can take, death will find you eventually. That is why I retired here. That is why I chose to embrace the ideas and philosophies of my mother and my father. You may be powerful, and you may be exceptionally skilled as a Sith, but you are still a man. And like all men, it is only a matter of time until the Force shall have your soul…and an incongruent corpse to go with it."

"Do you believe that you up to the task!" bellowed Sion. "As one who professes to understand my mastery of pain, do you believe you shall be the one to finish me off?"

"From one lord of pain to another, let me just say that it matters not what I believe," said Lucien. "The Force is in control. And if I am the one to finish you off, then I greatly look forward to it." Sion made no immediate response.

"What's the matter?" asked Lucien, his smile growing even more. "Expecting to come here and steal the poetic spotlight? Planned to say some cold-blooded words to throw me off guard like you did with Jolee Bindo?" Lucien chuckled slightly. "Don't feel bad. Know what the ratio of things that go according to plan is? Once for every one million."

Sion was now seething; his pus covered right eye twitching. "If it is but a matter of time before death comes to find me," he snarled. "Why waste it?" He drew his lightsaber and switched on, the glowing white and red beam shooting out of it.

"One moment," said Lucien moving a few steps to the side. With the Force, he pulled a small tile out of the floor, revealing a safe.

He opened the safe and pulled out a long and slightly curved lightsaber hilt. "I believe this would suit the occasion," he said as he pressed the button, an identical red and white beam firing from the end.

"I believe it does," said Sion with another smile.

"Come Sith Lord; let us see if you have met your match…and your end."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

_A sensation of uncertainty tingled about Revan as he gazed around the beautiful scenery. Underneath him was a large plain of tall grass. He was standing atop a tall tower on the outskirts of a beautiful city. The buildings were tall but none scraped the sky. The atmosphere was clean; a kind of tropical environment around what looked like a very old version of urban sprawl. The city, spanning a dozen kilometers across rested on a large low altitude mesa. Far away was an active cinder cone volcano. The land was pure, and a glorious sight to witness._

"_I think I've finally got a sighting,_"_ said the man right next to Revan, but Revan paid no attention. _"_Did you hear me?_"_ persisted the man. _"_Hello…Mengskin to Revan, Mengskin to Revan. HEY!_"

_Revan finally turned around to see the only other person with him. He was a tall man with very dark skin, a shaved head, and a fairly serious demeanor about him. _"_What?_"_ Revan said._

"_What's the matter with you?_" _the man said._

"_Oh…nothing, I'm fine,_"_ said Revan, still not sure of who he was talking to._

"_I said, I think I've got a sighting,_"_ said the man, referring to his high powered binoculars. "Take a look; twenty degrees north, sixty four degrees west. I think that's him." He handed Revan the binoculars._

_Before rotating to the direction, he was able to see with the naked eye what the man was referring to. There was a large castle, roughly four kilometers away. The castle looked very old; almost ancient, with corner towers and guard posts, a massive gate, and towers made of cement bricks. Through the binoculars, Revan peered through the window and adjusted the focus._

_The being he looked at was large. He was sitting on the throne, talking to someone else. He had a longer neck than usual, with tiny sharp horns sticking out on the sides, menacing golden pupils in his eyes, and his face slightly a darker color than crimson but not brownish either._

"_Huh…_"_ said Revan, who after remembering Lena's description, knew exactly who he was looking at. _"_I think you're right._"

"_I knew I would be," said the man. _"_That inglorious bastard Grand Sire in the flesh._"

_His vision faded to white, as he found himself standing on that all too familiar white abyss that would stretch infinitely in all directions. Who was this man? The fact that he was an apparent ally and knew Revan's name gave him no comfort, but perhaps this was a glimpse of the future. Perhaps Revan would meet this man; or perhaps Revan already met this man and still did not remember. The answers would eventually come, as they always did; but the repetitive requirement of patience was getting a little old._

_But Revan knew what he had gotten himself into. This was a dream; a purposeful vision. Had it a true intent that would reveal itself in a later moment of clarity, Revan could not hope to predict. But what he did know, was to expect the voice of Kreia._

_But at the moment, much to Revan's surprise, no voice came._

"_Aw come on!" yelled Revan in a half sarcastic tone. "I was looking forward to this!"_

"_What do you wish to hear?" replied the voice of Kreia. "__That I once believed in the code of the Jedi? That I felt the call of the Sith, that perhaps, once, I held the galaxy by its throat; that for every good work that I did, I brought equal harm upon the galaxy? That perhaps what the greatest of the Sith Lords knew of evil, they learned from me?"_

"_Now that's more like it," replied Revan as the next vision came into view._

"_When one relies on sight to perceive the world, it is like trying to stare at the galaxy through a crack in the door," said the voice of Kreia._

_This time, everything was moving, but not in a disorienting way. The night was at its darkest and the castle Revan viewed in the last vision was getting bigger and bigger; but not expanding in size. It was getting closer and closer. He was moving towards it, and yet he could not feel himself charging towards it._

_Revan was dangling in the air, in the clutches of the feet of a massive hawk. This hawk was huge, possessing a wingspan of a manta ray and legs the size of mountain gondolas._

_In the other foot of the hawk was Yuthura. Yuthura said nothing, but merely gazed around him, loving the experience. Flying in wedge formation behind were eight other hawks, all carrying two people each. _

_To his left was the hawk carrying the man from the previous vision as well as a battle hardened soldier dressed all in black and a belt full of knives. To the left of all the other hawks were all soldiers that looked just like that one. One thing Revan noticed this time about the man from the previous vision as opposed to before was the fact that he carried a long lightsaber hilt on his belt. Revan stared at it for a moment, but then looked to his right._

_The hawk on his right was carrying Dustil and another individual, dressed differently than the other soldiers, though to the right of that hawk was an identical group of night warriors. This other individual looked to be almost exactly Dustil's age, but he also had a lightsaber dangling from his belt. His dyed blond hair stuck out like a sore thumb, but somehow it seemed to suit his tan colored skin. His eyes were slanted and the clothing he wore resembled the robes of Jedi Padawans. By the looks of it, he and Dustil seemed to be making conversation, but the winds were too loud to learn the subject. Strangely enough however, Revan could not see Lena anywhere._

_As the birds soared through the sky over the castle to eventually drop them down along the corner guard towers on the other side, Revan heard in his head, the voice of the man from his first vision. _"Remember,"_ he said. _"Sith can sense you out and Zazz is no fool."

_Revan looked both ways behind him again to see several of the birds veered off to drop their pairs inside the walls at the blind spots of the towers._

"_Why don't the guards fire at these birds?" thought Revan. "It would seem like the practical thing to do in their shoes."_

_Revan and Yuthura were dropped on top of the main wall on the north side of the castle. Throwing her rope down, Yuthura dropped down from the wall and Revan followed. Stealthily, they made their way through the fields and farms surrounding the towers, being careful to avoid the stone paths and the guards that patrolled them. Revan led the way, but immediately ordered a halt and crouch. Another pair of figures, one of them in light colored clothing were coming up adjacent to their position. _

_When Revan finally figured out that it was Dustil and that other tan robed Jedi, alarms began to sound all over the castle. The guards immediately began scrambling to their defensive positions, and inspecting the castle grounds. One guards was running from one stone path to another across Dustil's path. The tan skinned Jedi intercepted his motion and swiftly took him down to the ground. With one punch to the face, the guard was out cold. He then took off his robe and draped it over the unconscious guard, his new clothing being a dark brown color. Dustil quietly whistled to Revan and beckoned them to follow. Revan nodded and pursued his path._

_Revan blinked and suddenly the place did not exist. He was surrounded again by the white dead space he was in right before._

"_Why am I not surprised?" he thought._

"_Similar to sight, there is a handicap that tends to occur among those strong in the Force. They neglect their skill. Some believe they no longer need them. Skill does not always draw from the Force, but it is a measure of power nonetheless. It can grant knowledge, help steady oneself when one's thoughts are in chaos, or grant enlightenment."_

_Before Revan could reply, he was thrust into another vision; this time in a large room, and by the looks of it, very familiar. This was the throne room he had laid eyes on through the binoculars in the two scenes previous. He stood at the very center, with that same stranger right beside him. In front of him was the Grand Sire he had also sighted sitting on the throne with a clean cut hole straight through his neck. It had been done by a lightsaber no doubt. Far to the left and sitting at the computer terminal was the fair skinned individual Dustil was friends with. Speaking of Dustil, Revan looked for him but could not find him. There was a whole squad of individuals here, most of which Yuthura was barking orders to, but Dustil was not present. And neither was Lena. Scattered across the floor were several dead individuals, both of them humans as well as True Sith. _

_The room stayed roughly stagnant for a minute, Revan still looking around for a mental snapshot and the kid still typing away at that computer. But that minute was all he had for area went completely black and all he could hear in the midst of his blindness was the sound of his own voice._

"_Wake up! Wake up, you hear me! WAKE UP!"

* * *

_

And Revan awoke, his eyes snapped but he had been prepared, and thus no seizures occurred, and none of the others could even sense a troubled mind. He was in his bed in the port dormitory and that was it. Yet that did not take away from what had just happened. The turbulence in Revan's mind was picking up once again as he attempted to analyze the visions as before as well as how he would tell the crew.

Looking at his watch, it was only 1700. He had dozed off in the afternoon and had not even eaten dinner. Perhaps he would tell the crew during the meal. Dinners were always great times for talking and thinking. Nothing like analyzing strange events with a belly full of food to pass the time…

* * *

_Back in the new Draay Estate…_

Sion's lightsaber was smashed by the hilt but the Sith Lord was well intact…or as best intact as he could possibly be with the millions of flesh penetrations on his skin. In his hand he held not his own, but the lightsaber of Lucien. The fatally wounded Jedi Master lay motionless on the floor, with a large hole in his chest and back that came from a front saber stab. As Sion put away Lucien's lightsaber, replacing his own with it, he turned around to see Lucien stand up.

The Jedi Master had placed his hand on his chest, using the Force to make the hole smaller. The hole decreased in size, but it was still a substantial wound, and Lucien numbed the wound do exactly what Sion had a knack for doing; using pain to keep him alive for just a little bit longer. "I'm not out yet, Sion," he said.

"Indeed," growled Sion. The Sith Lord reached out with the Force and summoned a blaster pistol from Lucien's belt. "Let us discover if you are as laserproof as your ideas are." He fired straight at Lucien's head, and the bolt pierced the spot between his eyes. Lucien's head flopped back as he dropped to the floor once again.

Sion turned again, but Lucien slowly stood back up, placing his hands on his chest and his forehead, using the Force to mend the wounds as best as he could. The hole on his chest and back was now considerably smaller. Was this all part of Lucien's plan to defeat Sion? The Sith Lord did not know. All he knew was that this was getting immensely frustrating.

"Enjoying a taste of your own medicine Sion?" roared Lucien. "It's frustrating for the opponent to get back up again and again after you keep knocking them down, isn't it? No doubt people have experienced this frustration against you. Before I die, you're going to feel just that."

"You cannot hope to pretend to be able to do what I can do," growled Sion. "You turned away from that a long time ago. I am the Lord of Pain; you are a blind old hag with a tongue sharper than your saber skills. Three times a charm and you will be dead."

Lucien was now at full posture and returning the spiteful gaze at Sion. He summoned his regular lightsaber from the wall and ignited it; the white and blue blade shooting out of the hilt with a snap-hiss. "Not three," he said. "If I wish, it could be three hundred; unless you can find a way to get the job done sooner."

"I am going to cut your head off!" bellowed Sion as he reactivated Lucien's red lightsaber. "See if that works!"

* * *

_We hope you enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight". Thanks to our loyal fan Darth Azrael for his wealth of knowledge on Lucien Draay and his history that he passed to us from the Darkhorse Comics. Our next chapter will be along as soon as we're able to make it happen._

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42

* * *

  
_


	22. Chapter 21: Crispin

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

**

**Chapter 21**

**Crispin

* * *

**

"Sounds pretty nightmarish to me," Yuthura said to everyone. "I know I'd freak out if some cryptic hag was flaunting her Sith-like actions. She sounds like something I would have turned into if I hadn't changed my ways."

"I don't recognize your description of any of these people," said Lena to Revan. He had just described the dream to them, and was hearing their thoughts. "Just the Grand Sire…but by your description, that was most definitely him."

"Nice to know that I made a friend…" said Dustil. "Not that you guys aren't cool or anything; I just like making friends."

"Make new friends when you can," said Yuthura. "But always cherish your old ones."

Dustil nodded. "Well I think I'll go relieve T3 now. He must be getting real sick of taking my place during _my_ shift."

"Go ahead," said Revan. "I think we're just about done. I'm getting a fairly useless vibe from this dream. I made it happen, just like you suggested; and I can't say I got much out of it. It looks like a victory for us in the long run, but I have a feeling I won't fully understand the dream until I'm caught up in the events that they take place in."

"I was awfully surprised that you took the advice," said Lena.

"Are you?" said Revan with a smile. "Or are you just surprised that I took your advice without you grabbing my hand and dragging my tired ass around."

"I suppose that too," said Lena a bit baffled by the remark.

"I don't ignore a good idea Lena," said Revan. "I don't care who it's from or the context of it…unless the context has some effect on the idea that makes it not good anymore."

"Better stop there, before you talk yourself into a circle," returned Lena.

"I think I'll go work out in the cargo bay before I wind up in the middle of a witty stalemate," said Yuthura as she stood up.

"Everybody's making a fuss," said Lena.

"I figure it'll be that way until we find some form of civilization," said Revan. "Doing nothing for two straight months is quite tiring."

"You're probably just as tired going through those Tulak techniques every day for as many hours as I like to nap. I don't think you've been doing 'nothing.'"

"But for the most part, they have," countered Revan. "It's not like we can't feel their homesickness at least a little," said Revan.

"Takes a little of homesickness yourself to identify with that though," said Lena. "I got over homesickness a long time ago. I don't even have a home anymore; just this ship, and as a backup, my own ship back on Katarr. It's too bad we're still flying a little blind. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"No need for that," said Revan. "You had a good notion; I was the one who turned up empty-handed. If the vision was correct, we'll be okay…and I'm sure whatever reason for your absence will be a decent one. If it's not, then at least we can tell ourselves that whoever this guy is, we'll recognize him if and when we meet him."

"I guess we know a little about him too," added Lena. "By your description…he sounds cool; not in the awkward teenage lingo 'cool' that we're too old for. I mean the calm and collected kind of cool."

"I gathered that," said Revan. "But it's water under the bridge right now."

"Uh Revan, you might want to get up here," said Dustil. Revan and Lena headed to the cockpit, passing T3-M4 in the security room. "Radar's picking up a blip a few knots south of our position; could be a station."

"Or it could be a ship," said Lena walking in before Revan. "Doesn't look too big, but it looks like it's on the move."

"It's a ship," assured Revan. "Dustil, initiate stealth mode. Lena, you help him out with that. I'll rig the engines. T3, come with me, now."

Within a matter of minutes, the Ebon Hawk was effectively less than a ghost on any radar. Because every ship generates heat and space is the temperature of absolute zero, ships are normally easily detectable. However, the Ebon Hawk would only be detectable through the naked eye. From a simple tinkering of the superconducting shield and the life support generators, the heat generated could be temporarily sunk within the hull of the ship, preventing it from venting out into space where it could be detected. Revan and T3-M4 rigged the engine room to do such, but this type of maneuver was increasingly risky over time. The inside of the ship would get hotter and hotter, and eventually the heat would have to radiate or else the crew would be cooked alive; however this would not present as a danger until at least three days. Conditions would grow more uncomfortable, but it would be a small price to pay.

"Decrease speed by thirty percent so we don't run too hot," said Revan through the intercom. "But I want you to follow that ship. Keep your distance so they don't see you though."

"We might lose the ship if we distance any further," replied Dustil.

"Yuthura, I want you to try and get a reading on that ship; but make sure they don't pick up any signals," ordered Revan. "I want to know if that pilot is human or not."

"There's definitely someone or something alive inside it," said Lena. "But a ship that small…"

"No way it could make it this far out here on its own," Revan finished her thought.

"There's got to be a planet or space station nearby," said Lena. "Probably Crispin if we maintained the right course…"

"How we doing Dustil?" asked Revan as he started moving back towards the cockpit.

"Hard on its ass," he replied. "I think we're good for now."

A couple hours passed of straight following the snub craft and maintaining distance while still dodging the asteroids. Every once in a while, the ship would double back, but Dustil was sharp on his wits, keeping close to the bigger asteroids so to take cover from plain sight.

"Picking up another blip," said Yuthura. "This is a bigger one…I reckon it's a planet."

"We're still due west and just a hair south aren't we?" Lena asked Dustil for which she received a nod. "Then it's got to be Crispin."

"Crispin is the name the True Sith gave it," said Revan. "Bear in mind, out there it could be called something else…or it could even _be_ something else, since none of us have been there."

"Look out there," said Yuthura. "I've been seeing that star change color the last few days. I think it's the planet we picked up. It's been getting bigger and bigger, and from our angle I think it looks like it's barely a few thousand kilometers away from the last asteroid."

"The belt ends there," said Revan. "It extends to the north and south, but not any further that way."

"And that looks like a minefield," said Dustil. "Didn't the galaxy map have something about that programmed?"

"I believe it did," said Lena. "That's Crispin alright. I'm positive."

"Civilization at last…" muttered Dustil, but Revan heard him.

"Don't think like that," Lena said. "For all we know, it's a gas giant or as civilized a civilization as Felucia."

"Aye," said Dustil. "What's the order, captain?"

"Take us to the end of the belt and park on the best asteroid you can." Dustil did as he was ordered and within twenty minutes, the Ebon Hawk was parked on a large asteroid on the last line to the brief open space before the planet.

"Revan, I don't think we need the stealth system anymore," said Lena.

"We do," said Revan. "We're still marginally detectable if we shut down all systems and put the ship on standby like we've been doing at bunk hours." Lena conceded with a nod.

"Scan shows habitable atmospheric pressure and mild climate," said Yuthura. "Oxygen and Carbon dioxide levels are normal…even better than normal. Nitrogen levels are relatively slow, and I'm picking up a fair amount of phosphorous at the surface. That's breathable air as the computer reads it. I'm even picking up sentient life."

"That's a good sign, right?" asked Dustil. "The breathable air part…" But Revan ignored him.

"That's half the pessimistic theory diminished," said Revan. "I think we ought to scout out the planet so we can determine the other half."

"I agree," replied Lena. "And that little Sith Interceptor we've got strapped beneath us may come in handy for that."

"I'll scout the planet if you want me to," said Dustil. "I've been wanting to get off the ship real bad."

"I'm sure you'll get your chance," said Revan. "But request denied. I want HK on this."

"You sure that's a good idea?" asked Lena. "I thought its method of exploration was looking for unique species to kill."

"Before the assassination is the hunt," replied Revan. "The hunt requires stealth and scouting abilities; both of which are programmed in its behavioral core. Believe me…that droid is more perfect for this job than you think."

"Where is it now?" asked Lena.

"I shut him down when I rigged the engines," said Revan. "He's built to withstand intense heat, but it is better not to push that too much. I'd do the same to T3 but we need him."

"Am I missing something? I'm not feeling any heat increase," said Yuthura. "My body's also capable of withstanding it, but I'm not feeling it."

"Try telling me that in a couple days when the ship turns into a sauna," retorted Revan. "That's one more thing," he added. "So long as we're in stealth, under no circumstances are any of you to engage in physically straining activity. Meditation and stretching sessions are fine, but no exercise."

"I agree," said Lena. "The last thing we need is this ship to get hotter than it's already bound to get." Revan nodded. "Let's go get HK up and running again."

Yuthura and Dustil monitored radar activity in the cockpit while Revan and Lena briefed HK-47 on the mission.

"You may stand out as a droid," said Lena. "Watch from the best invisible vantage points you can get, and do not attract attention to yourself. You're there to observe and observe only."

Before HK-47 could respond, Revan cut in. "HK, whatever intelligent 'meatbag' life there may be on this planet, I don't want them harmed in the slightest. Even if the planet is crawling with True Sith; you're not to engage the enemy. I'm not even giving you a blaster for this one. Is this understood?"

"Recitation: Yes master. My receptors have analyzed the mission to full droid capacity. While I am disappointed at the lost opportunity, I shall oblige for the ways of Jedi pacifism at your request."

"It's at my _orders_ HK," said Revan. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to torture you again before this mission. T3, hook yourself up to HK and program the flight details of that interceptor; and while you're at it, see if you can sync its visual receptors to the holographic image system on the ship so we can see the planet through the red tint of his eyes."

"Plea: Oh Master, please no! Why don't you just paint a pink smiley face on my rear end and put me on meet and greet duty for the rest of my battery life? Retraction: The last remark was not to be taken seriously in the slightest sense."

Revan and Lena exchanged humored smiles as T3-M4 finished its upload and disconnected. After a few warbled remarks, the holographic image system was now displaying what HK-47 was seeing right in front of it.

HK-47 was then disembarked on his mission, entering the snub craft and disengaging as Dustil lifted the Ebon Hawk just enough off the asteroid for the ship to break loose and exit. The droid piloted the space craft with as astute calculation and perfection as always, with Revan communicating to it and relaying orders when needed be.

"Do you have a bad feeling about this?" Lena asked Revan.

Revan shook his head. "I'd trust HK for this mission more than I'd trust myself.

"Why is that?"

"Because of Taris."

HK-47 maneuvered the craft through the atmosphere of the planet and landed in the woods in a small natural clearing between trees. It wasn't the best kind of landing, but he had come down undetected and in a natural spot several clicks away from the nearest piece of civilization. As the droid exited the ship, a small five-legged animal with beady purple eyes and a sharp tail slowly approached. HK-47's scanner could not detect the identity of this species of animal, but HK-47 ceased moving and proceeded to stare the creature down with its menacing eyes.

HK-47 made no audio response but merely pointed its metallic finger in the opposite direction of the animal, signaling it to leave. After a good ten seconds of this, the creature peacefully departed and HK-47 proceeded forward.

Between the ship and the nearby town was a steep hill that did not elevate more than a few hundred meters, but it was a good vantage point to gaze from because the town was at a much lower elevation than this section of forest. HK rock climbed the hill by punching holes in the dirt and using them to climb up as opposed to taking the usual path.

"What's he doing?" whispered Lena to Revan so that HK-47 could not hear, Lena not understanding that the droid was climbing the hill.

"His job," replied Revan quickly. As the droid reached the top of the hill, it took out the high powered binoculars Lena had equipped it with and gazed out on the town.

After several seconds of straight gazing, the droid spoke. "Statement: Master this is most peculiar. The species inhabiting this planet are homosapien meatbags, just like you."

"Did I hear that right?"

Revan furrowed his brow with a similar reaction. "Humans! Are you sure?"

"Confirmation: Yes master; certain as ever. However, if you are in disbelief, might I suggest eliminating one and bringing it back to you for autopsy analysis?"

"You already know my answer to that HK," said Revan. "Out of the question. Continue with your observation and analysis. From this distance, is there anything notable about these people?"

"Negation: No master. From this distance they appear to be no fleshier than the average meatbag. No malignant tumors or abnormal growths are visible, and…"

"I mean in their way of life!" growled Revan.

The droid continued looking and made no response for forty minutes. Occasionally it moved about the hill to get a better look, but the image Revan and Lena were looking at was not the best kind of quality. It was fuzzy, and often blurred by the glare of the bright sun. The droid however, seemed to have no trouble.

"Conclusion: Master, I have gathered a limited set of data based upon my observations. This village is inhabited by approximately ten thousand meatbags. Nearly all of them are farmers with no mechanical assistance and limited use of technology. The crops they grow are like none I have seen before, but its purpose appears to be nourishing to their stomachs. There are no city paved streets but dirt roads."

"That's not good enough," muttered Revan. "HK, I want you to wait until the full cover of darkness. Assuming these people sleep at night, I want you to take a walk through the town and attempt to learn even more. Do not interact with any of them and do not even let your presence be known."

"Statement: Affirmative master."

Night took over the planet Crispin and the droid waited patiently for a full cover of darkness, his eyes continuously staring through the binoculars at the activity in planets. When no one was sighted, the droid made its move. It dropped down the hill with a thud but then moved swiftly across the grass, silently. Steering clear of the roads, the droid came into town. The entire town was asleep, almost as if there was an in place curfew. The streets were silent for all but the wind and the light squawking of birds. HK-47 needed no flashlight, for its visor was on its infrared setting. It could look inside a pitch blackened inside of a barn and count the hairs on the domesticated animals, most of which were large and meaty looking, but also none of them familiar. The droid scoured the town without leaving a single trace, gathering data on every area it could. It examined the farm structures, the few public areas, and it even placed several audio bugs in some of these areas to monitor the chatter.

The town was as plain and as simple as it could possibly be, but if there was anything worth looking at that would tell everyone something about these people, then it was worth the time and the eyes.

Though Revan and the crew expected HK-47 to return to his ship and then to the Ebon Hawk, which was still adrift in space, the droid convinced them that it could find out more were it simply given time. That night the crew slept without their blankets. The ship was getting warmer; that they could feel but it was not yet a sauna. HK-47 monitored with all of its stealth and observation skills the events that took place during the day. By nightfall of the second day, the Ebon Hawk was so hot, the crew slept as decently naked as they could possibly sleep. These days were boring from the crew's perspective. They could not exercise or strain themselves physically in any way. It was partially good because Yuthura had dulled her arms doing a max set of benching 210 lbs for multiple reps before the ship entered stealth mode. By nightfall of the fifth day, the crew insisted that HK-47 return to the ship.

When the droid did as ordered, the Ebon Hawk moved back further a little ways into the asteroid field and set itself down upon a stable asteroid that they had docked on before. The systems were shut down and the heat was finally radiated. The crew spent that night sleeping in layers and with all of their blankets covering them, getting used to the coldness of space again. HK-47 then delivered a full report on the activities of the planet Crispin.

The town, as well as the dozen neighboring towns, all of them nearly equidistant from each other and connected by one main road was, as HK-47 put it, a town of farmers. The largest building located at the center was the town hall which was a hotbed for politics. This community was an organic one indeed. The people were closely knitted together and there was hardly a sense of individualism. The government structure was completely on a local level. This town interacted with the other neighboring towns just like it on a commercially economic level, but not much more. It was a republican democracy and it was completely participatory. There was no indirect representation. Every once a month, marked on the calendar, the people would come together and those who wish to address concerns would do so, and the people would discuss the issues together and decide collaboratively what to do. The selectmen would be on the same level as the people, for it would be an obligated job. Men and women alike could vote, and they would pick a leader every three years. A year for this planet was approximately five hundred days, and a day for this planet was about nineteen hours.

There was an overlying sense of virtue, trust, and common good embedded in the community. This town was a commonwealth. The people who farmed would share the wealth, but also the responsibilities that came with it. Coming with the ability to participate in the political dealings of the community was the responsibility and duty that could sometimes mean serving on the board of selectmen, or by paying more in taxes. Anyone who broke the law or violated the tacit contract was often shamed by the rest for breaking the mores of society. The mores of society led all of the farmers to make the absolute best out of the harvest time, because of the long winters that tended to strike. They would grow crops and collectively raise enough food to last the winter. During the winter, the people would become educated, by schools that the tax money would fund. The government was fairly active in the people's affairs, but this came with the high degree of political participation. The freedom that people had was because of government, and because of its ability to be stable and protect it. It was the freedom to do what was good for the community, and the people happily obliged. But this was not a complete communal society, for what individualism existed in these people was merely subordinated to the good of the whole; not eliminated completely. There seemed to be here a perfect balance of people's social instincts and individualism.

What made this society stable and incorruptible was the simple lack of dependency upon anything but the work ethic of the people themselves, which would inevitably deliver the needed results. There were no factions, clubs, or interest groups to speak of, and aside from what the community needed, what surplus and excess the people produced or earned would be their individual property. Ambition was not needed to counteract ambition. This was most of what HK-47 reported on in the few days he was given to observe the town.

"Impressive work HK," said Revan. "We couldn't watch as much as we wanted to, but I imagine you had relative success in understanding some of the language they spoke?"

"Commentary: Easier than you think master; the meatbags of this planet speak just like you do."

"They speak Galactic Basic?" said Lena with an eerie look on her face.

"Answer: I do not believe they refer to the language as 'Galactic Basic', but it is the same language nonetheless."

"Well that would make affairs out here much easier," said Revan. "But that's interesting nonetheless. Lena, don't the True Sith speak that same language?"

"They do," Lena responded, hinting that she had the same thoughts on her mind. "But similarity in languages doesn't necessarily make a connection."

"No it doesn't," said Yuthura. "I don't see a connection here at all."

"There doesn't necessarily have to be one," Lena responded. "The True Sith have an empire; maybe it just doesn't expand this far. It would make sense to me. Every town on this planet like the one HK examined is exactly the same, and it's self-sufficient enough with the abundance of resources to not need any help."

"But it doesn't make sense tactically," said Revan. "The True Sith know about this planet's existence because it was on their galaxy map. But look at the surroundings. The space planet could not be a better bottleneck. You have a minefield to the south and west of the planet, and you have a massive asteroid field to the east. You saw how easy it was for us to hide amongst these asteroids. Plus Canderous has his story about other ships that like to hide inside of them. Why wouldn't the True Sith take over this planet?"

"All good questions," said Lena. "And I doubt we'll have any of these answered for a while. Got any ideas Revan?"

"I'm much more interested in knowing about that ship we saw," said Revan. "We're going back and sit on the far end of the belt in stealth mode like we did before, and wait to see if we can find any more."

"More sweating again right?" snarled Dustil, but Yuthura and Lena hinted him to shut up, so he said nothing more.

* * *

_Back on Malachor V_…

"Authorization code confirmed; what can I do for you Lord Sion?"

"Put me on the line with my master immediately," demanded Sion from his ship.

"Yes, my lord," replied the officer. "I will get to it right…"

"There shall be no need for that," said Kreia walking into the room. "Leave us." The officers scattered until Kreia was left alone. "What have you brought me?"

"Draay is gone," said Sion confidently.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Kreia. "Lucien was difficult to identify; he would not have be slain easily."

"The deed is done!" asserted Sion. "Draay is dead with no hope of reassembly."

"And it took you long enough to do it," countered Kreia.

"I preserved my patience to observe the school and his movements so I could properly execute the purge. I learned about and understood my target before moving in. I have done my job."

"And now your pride has taken a hold of you," said Kreia. "I am not faulting your method of execution. I am merely conjecturing on your need to defend yourself against no accusation."

"I never said it was easy," said Sion. "But it is done."

"Good," said Kreia. "No doubt you are eager for your next assignment." Sion made no response, but Kreia continued anyway. "You have thus far eliminated two ex-Jedi; retirees, doomed to die of old age had your blade not struck first. Now you shall extend this courtesy to a current member of the Order. Belaya Kepeaeu, a much easier prey than the previous two but an influential one nonetheless; you will need to take care of her in a slightly different way."

"I smell a challenge," said Sion.

"Then your senses need to be fixed," retorted Kreia. "This is neither mission impossible nor mission difficult. If you find this a challenge, you are unworthy to even return home. Now if your egotistical eagerness has come to an end, listen carefully…"

* * *

_Back in the Ebon Hawk…_

Revan and Dustil sat at the helm; both shirtless but gazing out into space while Lena was taking a nap and Yuthura was cooking.

Revan spoke from a thought. "Have you ever just blankly stared at it and marveled at space's beauty? There's just so much out there."

But Dustil wasn't looking out into space anymore. "I think I'd rather look at the radar."

"Why? Something interesting showing up?"

"Looks like a pair of freighters coming out of hyperspace near Sector seven," replied Dustil.

"About time we saw something," said Yuthura coming into the cockpit. "Two days since the scouting doesn't melt metal, but it sure melts us. It's so hot, the stove wasn't even necessary to cook the food."

Dustil laughed, but then changed his expression quickly. "Really?" Yuthura smiled and shook her head. Then they quieted themselves as they saw from the cockpit two large ships move steadily towards the planet.

"We watching from here?" asked Yuthura.

"No," said Revan. "Dustil, prepare for dust-off. I want a closer look." Dustil obliged and lifted the ship off the asteroid in a matter of minutes. "I want you to take us around the planet underneath the South Pole and swoop around.

"That won't give us much of a viewing angle," said Lena.

"Where we're going, that we'll have all the view we need," replied Revan. "Go."

Lena had a hunch as to what Revan was thinking, and she clung to that hunch in spite of all the possibilities that could have exited – and she was right. From Revan's orders, Dustil took the Ebon Hawk around Crispin from underneath, but instead of sneaking past them from behind and getting a distant angle, he had Dustil land the Ebon Hawk underneath the ship and underneath its radar. By all signs, they were undetected, and now they had an upside down view of nearly everything happening in front and around the ship. The Ebon Hawk was now sitting on the underside of one of the freighters, and those inside were completely unaware.

"Shut down the primary systems, leave the secondary active in case we have to make a break for it," said Revan.

From this angle, not only could their radar detect all activity, but their naked eyes could see it happening as well. The view was upside down, but it mattered not, for there was nothing vastly complicated about the activity. From the front of the cruiser, a small cargo shuttle was dispatched with an armed escort of three fighters, all of which Revan could not familiarize the mechanics of. The shuttle and escort went down to the planet and disappeared into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, the other cruiser launched multiple teams of drones and scout fighters into both the minefield and the asteroid field for a lookout. From there, the main cruisers held their positions side by side.

"Pretty heavy operation by the looks of it," said Yuthura.

"The Ebon Hawk can't get any access into the ship's computer by way of its security system," Dustil added. "We're hidden, but we're locked out."

"Only one way to do it," said Revan. "But it has to be done. T3?" he said over the intercom. The astromech loyally rolled into the cockpit from the security room and gave an affirming warble. "Take a walk in space and see if you can get an ID on this ship and any other relevant data your cylinder can contain."

The droid did as it was told and took the elevator up to the top of the Ebon Hawk. From there, it rolled over it and onto the big cruiser it was latched upon. The droid rolled out of sight, but the radar indicated that it was fine. After several minutes, the droid beeped, signaling Revan that it had achieved some measure of progress.

"Got something T3?" asked Revan. The droid beeped a positive, but hinted that it was not finished. Suddenly, the Ebon Hawk and the crew inside felt some rumbling. They had not been detected, but their cockpit view became slightly fuzzy.

"We're turning around," said Lena. "Better tell the droid to get out of there."

"This is only premature," said Revan calmly. "The shuttle and escort haven't returned yet, plus the ships haven't dumped their garbage yet."

"What makes you think they will?" asked Dustil. "And how does that help us?"

"It makes logical sense," said Revan. "Look at their position. See how close they are to the minefield? They dump their garbage here and something amongst the garbage is probably magnetic enough to attract one of those mines. One or two stray mines detonating the garbage will blow it up, and since fire doesn't last long in space, they won't be leaving a trace."

"Well, by the looks of it," Yuthura cut in. "That shuttle and escort are heading back here; should be docked in a couple of minutes."

Revan nodded. "T3, stop what you're doing and get back here. The cruiser isn't bound to stay for long. You've got about ten minutes tops, to get back inside."

The droid beeped in affirmation and in less than five minutes, it had come down the Ebon Hawk's elevator.

By this time, the shuttle and fighter escort had returned. The hanger doors opened for them and closed as soon as the ships were through. Two large ports opened on the aft side of the ship and out came lots of large chunks of disposable junk.

"That's my droid," said Revan, patting T3-M4 on the head.

"Right on time," said Lena.

"I'm detaching the ship now," said Dustil. "I can probably maneuver far enough away to evade the explosion."

"Do it," replied Revan as he sat back down into his chair. Dustil lifted the ship off the cruiser and veered it away from the outgoing garbage. Within seconds, both cruisers took off into hyperspace and within seconds after that, the garbage was incinerated into nothingness, the minefield still left completely intact.

"Good to know the Unknown Regions are environmentally friendly," chided Yuthura.

"They seem to be hacking away at that minefield one garbage dump at a time," replied Dustil.

"Orders Revan?" asked Lena.

"Let's have a look at what T3 got from that ship. T3, lead the way."

The crew followed T3-M4 into the main hold of the ship and the droid put the schematics of the cruiser up, but no ID was displayed. Apparently the droid could not find that out in time, but all indications led the crew to believe that it was a harbor for smuggler's vessels as well as a large smuggling vessel in and of itself.

Aside from its dreadful appearance, the armor on the ship was not so extensive, a trait it had traded with its flexibility and maneuverability in combat or intense situations. At the front of the ship was the disc shaped command deck and crew quarters with half a level to get to bridge view. Underneath was the primary engine in the shape of cylinder. At the bottom of this large engine was where the Ebon Hawk had landed, which was why they could feel the rumbling so easily. Connected to the main engine but on the same level as the bridge were three auxiliary engines that stretched just a bit further backwards and provided both a weight balance and a set of afterburners. If the ship was an action figure, one would hold it by the neck between the command decks and primary engine. It was almost a wonder the Ebon Hawk was not picked up, for the large disc-like command decks was packed underneath with turbolaser turrets that could spring out and fire in peninsular directions. In the middle of all the turbolasers was the ship's deflector shield that stuck out slightly round from the otherwise flat structure. The ship was approximately eight times the size of the Ebon Hawk and had a crew of almost two hundred people, nearly all of them human.

The ones that were not human had both the exact same build and body structure of them, except for skin color differences (mainly a brick reddish tint) and other facial features. For males, the back of their heads stuck out slightly and they had no hair at the back. For the females, there was hair at the back, but in their case it was heavily tied and braded to prevent it from dropping below the neck. One other notable characteristic of the females were the abnormally thick mustaches they had on their faces. It made the crew somewhat awkward at first sight and finding out that it was actually a female they were looking at.

No data was gathered on the partner vessel, but the small shuttle and escort that was launched forth and back to the ship was there on a supply gathering mission. T3-M4 could not pinpoint what exactly was put onto the ship on the planet, but it was most likely a sample of the farming goods, perhaps in the form of taxes, or perhaps a deliberate theft. The crew had no idea, but Revan was not about to jump to any conclusions.

Most importantly, T3-M4 was able to download the hyperspace coordinates for that ship's next destination.

"Well done little mech-mechanic," said Dustil, patting T3-M4 on the head. T3-M4 chirped a thank you.

"Looks like we've got a course to follow," said Lena. "Unless you want to go down to Crispin yourself and check the place out…"

Revan shook his head. "It doesn't seem like a productive use of our time. We'll have to settle down the ship somewhere eventually and do some investigative footwork, but I don't believe Crispin is where to start."

"So then let's follow those ships," said Yuthura. "And while we're at it, can we turn off this damn stealth system? I feel like I'm on fire."

"Alright alright, quit barking that pretty mouth at me, and do it," growled Revan. "I'll prep the engines."

"Uh, we're doing it right here?" asked Lena. "Those drones will pick us up almost instantly if we do."

"Which is why I want you and Dustil to prep the ship for hyperspace travel and get her in the air," replied Revan. "Move her away from the asteroids and to the approximate area where the ships were."

The crew did as they were told and Lena was right. Within seconds of radiating the heat from the Ebon Hawk, multiple drones on radar began moving toward the Ebon Hawk's location, trying to lay low behind the asteroid, but not good enough for the radar to not see them.

"They're getting closer," said Yuthura nervously. "They can probably see us with the naked eye."

"No matter," replied Revan. "We've got no markings; no way can they ID us. Heat's almost radiated, just thirty seconds more."

"I'm going to get on the turret just in case," said Lena.

"Do not fire unless fired upon," said Revan quickly. In a few moments when T3-M4 beeped an affirmation, Revan signaled the go-ahead for Dustil.

Dustil pulled the lever back, pulling the stars in view into starlines and thrusting the ship into the void of hyperspace, in relentless pursuit of the cruiser, and even more relentless pursuit of a clue to understanding what they were now embedded in.

* * *

_We hope you enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
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_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	23. Chapter 22: Unemployed

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

**

**Chapter 22**

**Unemployed

* * *

**

Atris lay sound asleep in her bed, the rest of the council doing the same in their respective rooms. Affairs on Coruscant had been slow and tedious, but the Jedi Order did not seem to be progressing. The current Padawans had been vastly improving in their skills but their recruiting numbers were slightly above nothing. All too often had the masters taken turns traveling the galaxy in search of Force adepts young enough to train, and with such little success and age creeping up on all of them, it was a wonder if and how the Jedi could maintain themselves in the next several years.

Then there were also the duties of the Jedi, not only to the Republic but to the cares for local concerns across the space. No significant red spark patterns of civil unrest were occurring but it most definitely seemed like it, because any Jedi who walked the streets of Coruscant or any mass public place would get ambushed by several people all asking them to solve different disputes and conflicts. The Jedi were used to this, but they needed numbers, and it did not help that even one as influential as Revan no longer seemed to affiliate with them. None but Bastila and Juhani had any idea where he had gone, and the council did not know that Revan had even consorted with them before leaving. It would not take too long to put two and two together, but this was not the primary concern.

A well deserved sleep encumbered Atris until her eyes open and she nearly threw herself from the bed from not a dream, but a feeling through the Force. She spoke to herself and a name came from her breath.

"Lucien! No…"

"How sure are you of this?" asked Zhar.

"Absolutely," countered Atris.

"Why could we not feel it then?" said Vash.

"How should I know?" countered Atris. "I knew him fairly well…"

"So did I," countered Vandar. "I knew him very well, but I could feel nothing."

"Then perhaps you should all meditate on that, Master Vandar," said Atris. "But before Lucien left us, he was a friend. That may not be much to weigh on, but I believe this is worthy of at least my time."

"Then go," said Vrook. Dorak nodded in agreement.

Atris stood up and left the council chamber.

"A rush to judgment that may have been," said Zhar with a tone of concern.

"Atris knew Lucien Draay well enough to care about his death," said Vandar. "What is the concern here?"

"No concerns, Master Vandar," said Zhar. "I'm just thinking out loud."

"But we all knew Lucien," said Dorak. "Some more than others, but still…how was she the only one to feel his death?"

"It matters not how much we knew him," said Vrook. "If Atris says it happened, then it happened."

"I just didn't think she'd care that much," said Vash. "Didn't the two of them exchange certain harsh words when Lucien left the Order?"

"Maybe she regretted that," said Dorak. "Atris isn't one to hold a grudge…is she?"

"I don't think we'll ever know," said Zhar. "But it is all black and white with her; we couldn't have made her change her mind even if we wanted to. Lucien among others have complicated that view in her eyes, and so she very well could hold a grudge."

"I am not worried of her doing anything stupid though," said Vandar. "She will return to us with the answers if and when she finds them. But we do her a disservice talking about her when she is not present."

"I agree," said Vrook. "Let's get back to work then."

* * *

The sensors in the cockpit suddenly started beeping. "Looks like we're coming out of hyperspace on these coordinates," said Revan, getting up from the chair and beckoning to Dustil. "Guess we better get into character. Yuthura, Dustil…Nav controls are yours."

Dustil and Yuthura took the _Ebon Hawk_ out of hyperspace, deflating the mottled sky and in view came a large space station. The station was a large floating structure held stagnant in space nowhere near any planet within several light years. It spanned higher than it did wide, almost looking like a building in space, but it was a bit rounder than the normal corporate skyscraper. At the middle level, it stretched out much wider, and from a closer view it seemed to hold individual shield bays for smaller craft. The larger craft would be latched on amongst the sides. It was large enough to hold multiple star cruisers like the ones they saw near Crispin, but not so large as to be a hub for mass commercial activity.

"Yuthura, get a reading on that station. Dustil whatever is on there will have picked us up on radar. Keep your distance and fly around for a bit. Yuthura wait…" Yuthura sat back down. "Lena's already checking that out. How the hell does she do that?" Revan left the cockpit.

"There's intelligent life on that station," Lena said to Revan coming in. "The same kind of intelligent life we picked up on the cruiser. In fact, that's it right there, docked on the third level.

"The instruments don't tell us much beyond that," Revan commented.

"But the Force tells me that there isn't too much emotion on board; but there is a common element in the populous. I'm scratching my head as to what that is though."

"Yes there is," said Revan conceding Lena's point before proving it himself. He reached out with the Force and felt the life aboard the station. The people went about their business; ships were fueled, administrations were scattered throughout, many different factions, but Lena was right. There was a common element here.

"They've got similar technology…" thought Revan out loud. "But that's not it. No True Sith here either."

"It's tough to pick up," said Lena. "These people are so similar, that the underlying emotion we feel is in clusters. It's hard to discern what we want to know. But what we have here is definitely civilization."

"And if they're civilized, then they definitely will not shoot us on sight even though they don't recognize us," concluded Revan. "Dustil!" he called. "Take us closer to the station and when they attempt to communicate, patch them through to the Main Hold."

"Aye Captain!" Dustil called back.

Dustil brought the _Ebon Hawk_ within tractor range of the station and as predicted, a communication was established. It was fuzzy at first but eventually a clear signal was transmitted.

"Unclassified freighter, this is Averst Station Gate Control. State your business here," came the voice.

"Thank you for not expressing hostility," said Revan flatly. "My name is Jack and my ship is the _Ebon Hawk_. The reason my ship probably didn't show up on your database is because we've never seen this station before. Me and my group of three other individuals and two machines are looking for work."

"_Ebon Hawk_, not too many in the business know of our location. How did you acquire the hyperspace coordinates?"

"A contact," lied Revan. "My uncle used to work here…said this would be a good place to try my luck."

"I see…" the officer said. "Apologies _Ebon Hawk_, but prudence and regulatory procedures dictate that I hold off on that grant until further information can be attained."

"We're fairly low on fuel," persisted Revan. "And though we don't have much of the currency, we're willing to work to pay off our landing fee. Plus we've got some supplies and goods that may substitute for whatever landing fee pressed upon us. I ask you if prudence is the appropriate form of action under these circumstances."

"This kind of business goes by the book _Ebon Hawk_," replied the dock officer. "Surely honest folk like yourself understand that."

"This isn't working," Lena whispered to Revan. "You may want to try the unconventional way…"

Revan nodded as if the thought had already crossed his mind. He concentrated through the Force. "Sir…I assure you that we mean no threat to your business or hostility. We are willing to cooperate with all regulatory proceedings, but I really want you to grant us clearance."

There was a moment of silence following that last statement. "Very well_ Ebon Hawk_, your permission is granted, but we will hold you to your word and you will be held accountable for any irregularities."

"Understood control," replied Revan. "Please accept my gratitude. Jack out." The transmission was cut and Revan looked at Lena. "I don't like what I just did there, but I don't think we had another option."

"We didn't," assured Lena. "But you're right. Best not to make a habit of that, especially if we're going to lay under the True Sith's nose."

"They're tractor beaming us in," said Dustil.

"Good," replied Revan. "All of you in the main hold, now." The crew obeyed and when everyone was present, Revan spoke. "Alright, so we have finally made contact with civilization out in the Unknown Regions. I don't have to tell you how potentially dangerous this is, but these people seem at least partially welcoming.

"Now, things to keep in mind: We have no idea what kind of currency they use, or even what business we're getting ourselves into. Whatever it is, you play along and if it's in a field that you know nothing about, keep your mouths shut and let Lena and I handle it. We're unemployed here, but my words are true. To establish ourselves here and get a deeper take on the dealings of our enemy, we are going to need to find work and keep this ship flying. My inclination is that the business of this station is some form of smuggling, and if I'm right, then we'll be in a better position than not. Most importantly, you are to cooperate with their laws and regulations, and you are to _not_ draw attention. Also, you are never to indicate that we are not even from this region of the galaxy. We must operate for now under the assumption that they know nothing of us or where we are from. If we say that we're from Telos and they don't know where that is, they'll start asking more questions and that's the last thing we need. We stick to the story.

"So far, we've had nothing but good luck, and if the visions were correct, then we may find ourselves in the right company before we know it. But that should not dull our senses. Remember that with the exception of the droids, we are all trained in the Force, but for now we must sedate this and blend in. Do I make myself clear?"

Dustil and Yuthura nodded. The droids made no response, but they did not even need to.

"One other thing," Lena added. "If you're asked your name, feel free to give it, but while you're here, you will refer to Revan as 'Captain' or 'Jack'."

"Captain Jack…" murmured Dustil. "Alright no problem."

"What about you?" Yuthura asked. "The True Sith know your name. What do we call you?"

"Arren Kae," Lena replied as if she had already thought of that. "You can call me that."

Revan smirked. "You would, Lena…" Lena smiled back.

The _Ebon Hawk_ was docked on the fourth level from the top of the station. The engineering structure of the station was brilliant. Now that they were up close, Revan could finally appreciate it. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was a completely business environment; an office type environment for every administration that set itself here, but the vast majority, just as Revan predicted was smuggling. At the mid level, almost the epicenter of the station was the main police and emergency response unit along with the central bank. Of all the places he could possibly have set the _Ebon Hawk_ down, this was probably the best spot. Space trafficking was a normal routine for many of these companies. There was a large residential unit at the bottom most level of the station but living expenses were very high. The people worked long hours and most of them would come in by morning and leave by night, with the exception of those that lived there. There was enough docking space in this station to house an entire Republic fleet, though it would not have looked like it from the outside.

Also, unlike most stations, this was completely stagnant. Its stabilizers kept it from drifting or rotating in space, and its position was never different. Revan got the impression that at least in the smuggling occupation, the administrations were so protective and secretive of their dealings because they were the middlemen, and operations for larger clients would work through them.

But the most fascinating element to this station was the vibe Revan got from the people. Now he could finally understand what Lena was talking about. It was not so much that nearly everyone was a smuggler, hired gun, bounty hunter, technician, etc. It was the fact that in this corporate atmosphere, there was hardly a problem. The corporations in the same field that worked through this station competed under equal laws and equal fairness. The only monopoly was the bank, but its interest rates were the same for all and the currency was apparently stable enough to bring about a safe investment in for worlds and systems that had different currency of value. The bank offered with reasonable security safe loans and extended credit to those that had reputations for paying them back. The policing units and governing administrations operated moderate regulations, but there was hardly any politics here. It seemed as if all who held a job here was so happy that they would not be so power and money hungry like Revan had seen so much of back in the known Republic space. But it could not be this perfect. There had to be some other element.

Whatever it was, Revan and Lena did not know, but knew that with patience and insight, they would understand. One thing was certain: this was by far the best place to make initial footing in the Unknown Regions. They had been worried about settling on a random planet, having to learn a form of communication, receiving information without the experimental effect, and ducking under the True Sith's nose. But here, it seemed like none of that was a problem. Revan wondered how different the Unknown Regions really were from the rest of the galaxy, but he quickly washed away his thoughts as he stepped out of the ship to meet the dock authority. For now, they would have to keep concentrated on the now.

No human came to greet him; only a droid, about the same design as a protocol droid, but much taller and bigger and far more intimidating despite the fact that it was unarmed. It spoke with the deepest voice Revan had ever heard.

"Welcome to Averst Station; our records indicate that this is your first time here. As such it is by our custom that we inform you of all procedures and guide you. I am YRHMBPCWQ9365037205781111." Revan and Lena's eyes widened from overwhelm but Dustil had a hard enough time hiding his laughter. The droid continued. "For simplicity's sake, please call me Y93. The first order of business is the docking fee. For one standard twenty four hour day, the fee will be fifty bonds. For one standard eight day week, the fee will be three hundred bonds. If you plan on remaining docked for a time between those days, you must renew your day payment within twenty four hours of initial payment. However, if you become a registered member of this station, you will be allowed to stay docked for longer and your rates will progressively decrease proportionate to the length of time you are docked here. And…"

"Hold just a moment," said Revan. "I don't have any bonds, but…"

"If you do not have the appropriate money," interjected the droid. "You may take out a loan from the bank to pay this fee. If you will follow me please…"

"Lena, why don't you handle this one?" Revan said. Lena nodded and followed the droid. "Looks like we have another welcoming party…"

Another set of two people entered the docks. "Captain…Jack," one of them said looking down at a clipboard. "I'm Sergeant Borcka of the Averst Police Commission. I'm going to need you to come with me."

"What's this about?" asked Revan in a calm voice.

"Since this is your first time here, we need you set you up with some paperwork, that's all. Standard procedure; I trust you'll obey."

"Of course," obliged Revan. "Please lead on. All of you, come with me; let's leave our ship to the tender loving care of these professionals. By the way, my ship wouldn't by any chance be of unusual design to your mechanics right?"

The Sergeant took a quick glance at the _Ebon Hawk_. "Not a ship I've ever seen around here…doesn't look like a mass produced commercial brand."

"It's one of a kind," said Revan. "Built it with these two hands…" This was quite a lie, but Revan didn't care to explain that he had stolen it from a vicious crime lord after killing him and escaping the planet as it was bombed into submission.

"Did you now?" said the officer with a fairly impressed tone and now moving out of the hanger bay. "Not too many around here know how to do that sort of thing. Dock officer told me that you and yours were looking for work?"

"That's correct," said Revan. "Though my uncle was quite vague as to what constituted work in a place like this; you wouldn't by any chance be able to shed some light on that, would you?"

Borcka laughed. "You're an interesting person," he perceived. "Coming in on a ship like that to the hotbed of the hands-on type of jobs. Smuggling, mercenary work, transportation of cargo and/or passengers, I think that ship of yours would serve in any and all of those purposes. All of this is legal of course, but we have our own rules by which we operate by. I have a feeling you're going to feel right at home…once we get your paperwork out of the way, that is."

Revan sighed and Dustil and Yuthura both exchanged glances behind him. He was right again; a smuggling station, legal by the looks of it but still nonetheless a dangerous occupation. With any luck, Lena would have figured that same out by now."

Within about twenty minutes of stair climbing and corridor hiking, they had arrived to the police department. Though they had been dressed from head to toe in civilian clothing and were unarmed, not even lightsabers, they still stuck out like sore thumbs. "_We're going to have to get some new clothes,_" thought Revan. "_This is going to be a hassle…_"

The paperwork was filled out with all the usual things. Revan filled out the form with the alias of "Jack Raven Kerr". Yuthura Ban and Dustil Onasi filled out their forms as usual, and while Lena was at the bank, she did the same, under "Arren Kae."

"Consider yourselves registered and official members of this station," said Borcka. "You're free to move about the station looking for work. You can check into a residential suite, though judging by price, I'd advise you to just use your ship. There's always work to be found, so I'm sure an able bodied man such as yourself will have no trouble. Do you have any specific interest, so that I could point you in the right direction?"

"Smuggling," Revan said completely randomly. "Always been a fan of that sort of work."

"Very good," Borcka replied. "You have a number of options in this field. The most prominent company will be Gilpossie; they're always looking to hire and they pay fairly well.

The higher the pay, the more dangerous the job, but if you're into that, you might want to check out the Multi-Contract Airborne. They've got a reputation, so they're strict, but they get around quite a bit. They like to dig their teeth into a little bit of everything though. Feel free to use directory assistance also."

"Officer Borcka," replied Revan. "You've been a great help, and on behalf of my crew I thank you kindly."

"Likewise," said Borcka extending out his hand. Before Revan took it, he noticed the odd position of the hand. It was held vertically, as if almost the opposite from the handshake. Hesitantly, Revan extended his own and Borcka caught it. His grip was firm, and Borcka smiled.

"Not used to this kind of handshake I see," Borcka said. "Where'd you say you were from?"

"Crispin," lied Revan. "They do it a slightly different way."

"Not where I've been on that place."

"Well you know how separate yet tight knitted everything is there. Small cultural differences like this; we try not to let it interfere with business."

"Yes of course," the Sergeant said, his suspicions mellowing. "Best of luck to you. Hope to see you around the station."

"Likewise," Revan responded.

The crew returned to the _Ebon Hawk_ to find Lena there waiting for them. They entered the ship and sealed the ramp. After making sure the ship was clear of anyone else, they met in the main hold. "We good?" Revan asked her.

"Golden," she replied. "Loan taken out; bonds are the currency here. I got about three hundred of them total for each of us for now. We may want to buy some clothes or pay for the ship's refueling. I also put in down payments for three days docked.

"How much was this loan exactly?" Revan asked.

"1,350 bonds," said Lena. "Three days should give us enough time to find work if we hustle."

"Unless the paperwork for job searching is as painstaking as it was for registering as members," Dustil muttered sarcastically. "I felt like I was in detention class writing 'I will not tell lies' on the chalkboard.

"Alright," said Revan changing the subject back. "Lena, we have an opportunity to find work in the smuggling department at least."

"That's exciting," she replied. "I heard good things about some group called the Multi-Contract Airborne. Cool name…"

Revan laughed at the parallel. "That's what I want to look into." Revan filled Lena in and then gave assignments. "Alright, Dustil, Yuthura, you two take T3-M4 with you and find out how much it costs to refuel the ship, and then pay it. Lena and I will reimburse you. Then with whatever money you have left, I want you to buy a couple pairs of clothes, just to fit in. Take a walk around this station, but act like a tourist. Don't be snooping your way into the janitor's closet. Understood?"

"Yes Captain," they replied in unison.

"Lena, HK, and I will go check out the organization. We'll see what we can do."

"More party of three again…" Lena muttered with a low chuckle but Revan gave her a look to stop talking.

"This is a slow process; understand that," Revan growled. "If we can set up a smuggling line of work with anyone, it might give us the opportunity to learn more about the Unknown Regions and expand our navicomputer beyond the old map Lena used to have. That may also give us the slip as to where besides the planets Voss and Shikara the True Sith lie, and what they are up to. That's the long term goal, but to get there we have to focus on the short term. One way or another, we'll be getting ourselves a smuggling job."

"And we'll take it one step at a time," Lena added. "Let's go to work."

* * *

_Back on Coruscant, six kilometers from the Jedi Temple…_

"Get out of my house!" Belaya screamed as she grabbed one of Darth Sion's assassins and blasted him into the wall. With that same assassin not unconscious yet, Belaya dashed over to him and barraged him in the chest with lightning fast punches. The assassin's ribs were broken and the last strike was an elbow to the temple, colliding the other side of his head to the wall, and killing him.

Another one came at her from behind with a punch to the back of her head but Belaya ducked and intercepted him with a knee to his stomach. As he fell to the floor, she stomped on his face. As she bounced off the unconscious assassin, she ignited her lightsaber with a snap-hiss. She flipped over the assassin in front, slashing his back, and landed on another behind him, cutting him in half.

The final two assassins came at her from the sides but she ducked and their blades clashed. Belaya broke the clash with a strike of her own and simultaneously aimed blows at both of them. They resisted and Belaya found herself going head to head with both of them on the same ground. She split her concentration to guarding against both but she drove her blows at the one on her right. The one on the left was relentless however. He constantly swung ferociously at her and his blows were barely ducked or blocked. At another hard vertical swing, Belaya parried it to the side and then swung again to the assassin on the right. Again her blow was blocked, but before the assassin could counterattack, Belaya hit the floor on her back and shifted past them, striking the assassin on the left at the bottom part of his leg, severing it cleanly. As the assassin flopped to the floor, Belaya stood up and stabbed him downward in the chest.

As she turned her attention to the last assassin, he dropped his sword and surrendered. Belaya furrowed her brow looking at him, but without even a hint of mercy, she hit him in the face with an elbow and dropped him to his knees. She raised her saber at neck level. "Any last words?"

The assassin slowly removed his mask so to look Belaya in the eyes. His face turned into a smirk. "Aim low," he said.

Belaya furrowed her brow again, unsure of what he meant, but within a flash it became clear to her. A laser dot was aimed at her chest right above the breast level. Before she could stop it, the sniper shot game from the window and pierced her body. The laser blast hit her right where the dot was and she fell to the floor dead. The assassin stood up and reattached his communicator.

"Good work," said Darth Sion through the communicator.

"A fine shot on your behalf as well master," the assassin replied. "What are your orders?"

"Take the bodies of our comrades back to the ship. I shall be there shortly," Sion ordered. "We will need to clean the place up and make it look like we had nothing to do with this. And quickly…the Jedi will have felt her death and will be on their way. We have no less than half an hour."

And he was right. Back in the Jedi Temple, Juhani broke from her meditations and clenched her heart. What would seem like a normal symptom of a disturbance in the Force was nothing of the sort for Juhani. Given her close attachment to Belaya, the friendship bond was broken at her death, and she knew exactly what it meant. Before she could open the door to find Bastila, Bastila came to her.

"Did you feel that?" Bastila asked with a voice of high concern. "I think something's happened to Belaya."

"I did," Juhani replied. "More than you did most likely. I am going to look for her."

"Let me come with you," Bastila replied. "You might need my help. Give me five minutes."


	24. Chapter 23: Working For MCA

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

**

**Chapter 23**

**Working For MCA

* * *

**

The two parties of three went their separate ways at Averst Station almost immediately. The day was still young, and their tasks were simple enough to be outside of their minds but not outside of their consciousness. Yuthura and Dustil had purchased their clothing and were now mostly blended in. Yuthura noticed several people glancing at her as if they had never seen a Twi'lek before, but nonetheless the new wardrobe kept them from looking like hays a stack of needles.

T3-M4 warbled something, but Dustil quickly caught on. "Look, two levels up. I see Revan and the others."

"Small station," said Yuthura with a smirk. "We ought to continue looking around here. That data gathering office caught my eye."

"Why there?" Dustil asked.

"Might tell us more about this place and areas around it," Yuthura replied. T3-M4 chirped in agreement.

They moved into the office and after paying the rental fee, T3-M4 hooked up to one of the computers and began navigating through the available database. The terminals were complicated and difficult to figure out, but luckily the instructions manual was not far away.

Codexes and articles were everywhere. This station's economy was self-sufficient, the only international marketing done being the shipping and transportation of food and water from Crispin, as well as natural resources from a nearby moon called Siegfried located to the north. All computers and technical devices were manufactured inside the station itself and the energy it used was ninety percent renewable, the remaining ten percent needed for the disposal of all garbage, which was conducted through a few competing firms that had their own separate methods that included human work as well as the work of garbage drones.

The garbage would be taken from the station by way of large crates attached to the bottom that all waste baskets would flow into. Once those who worked down there ensured that the crates were ready to go, the drones would come at the push of a button and take the garbage into space. An uninhabitable planet called Kief with toxic atmospheric levels off the charts, which was half a light year away would be the destination. As soon as the drones would reach the atmosphere, they would incinerate the crates with the garbage in them and then return to the station.

"I don't think looking at how garbage is disposed is the proper use of our time…time which we paid for," said Dustil.

T3-M4 buzzed grumpily and then continued scrolling. "There," Dustil said. "News and other articles, those could work." The droid went to that section and in came another massive array of links and documents.

"Wow!" Yuthura said out loud. "The stock market hasn't experienced a catastrophic meltdown in 700 years…I wish our economy was like that. This is actually a really great place to find work."

"Moderate regulations, simple requirements for starting a business such as having at least one account wired to the main bank, full transparency but client confidentiality…" Dustil was reading out loud the available subtexts as T3-M4 rapidly scrolled through, continuously downloading all the information. "How much data can you possibly store in that core of yours?" he asked the droid. The droid made no response, but merely entered the number on the screen. "Wow, is that your memory size, or my social security number…?"

"You know," Yuthura suggested. "Revan asked us to take a tour of the place, but we've already walked around this floor and we've seen a decent amount of this station. Revan wanted us to take a 'tour', meaning he wanted us to gather information about the station. But…considering what we're all really here for, do you think maybe we ought to scan this database for any sign of…"

"The Sith?" Dustil whispered. Yuthura nodded. "Not a bad idea…but we'd have to keep a low profile. Some people could be working legitimate contracts with them…we don't know. How much time have we got left?"

"Twenty three minutes," Yuthura said. "Should be enough for a brief overlook."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"I could have sworn I saw the other three a couple levels below us when we crossed that bridge walkway," Revan commented to Lena as they neared the entrance to the Multi-Contract Airborne. "You suppose they're doing okay?"

"I have a feeling that they're doing their homework," Lena replied. "They can be unpredictable though."

"I know they want to help…and they are helping," said Revan. Lena glanced at him. "I'm not worried about them running into any problems with the law…I'm more worried about them talking about us or the True Sith in public."

"Yeah you never know who's listening," said Lena.

"It's not just that," Revan added. "There could be some legitimate business going on here between some of these companies and the True Sith. I want a low profile."

"While I was coming back from the bank," Lena said. "I noticed a guy listening to a news audio log. When he took the headphones off, I put them on for a few minutes, and apparently, what he was listening to was some of the history of this station. Apparently there hasn't been a stock market crash in 700 years, and that happened because of a massive embezzling scandal from one investment firm's CEO board that tried to quadruple their profits. They were shut down, and since then, there's been some moderate regulation and no incident. This place is pretty stable, but information travels real fast around here. I mean…this station is flat."

"Multi-Contract Airborne, state your business citizen…" said a voice through the transmitter outside the main entrance.

Revan pressed the button to speak. "Yes, me and my crew here came down here to see if there may be a spot open in this department."

"I see," said the voice. "Enter and proceed to the second door on the left. We'll talk."

"That was easy," Lena muttered as the main door opened. Revan motioned the closing of the mouth as they proceeded. As they entered the room, another man exited and passed them. This tall man with dark skin, a shaved head, and fairly serious demeanor with a full business suit took a split-second glance at Revan, who returned it for the same amount of time. It would have appeared creepy from Revan's perspective, but he ignored it. The man walked out of the room and disappeared. HK-47 waited outside while Revan and Lena sat down at the main table waiting for someone to show up. After a few minutes, another dapper individual entered the room from the opposite end. He was a very large man at the waist and his brown skin complemented his brown eyes and his expression was a rather customer-friendly one.

"Interesting machine you've got out there," said the man, commenting on HK-47. This person was another dapper looking individual with a much more customer-friendly expression. "Not the conventional type of robot right?"

"I would hope not," Revan replied. "HK-47 is my greatest creation…or at least my favorite one."

"You specialize in that kind of mechanics?"

"Among other things," replied Revan. He smiled and looked at the man. "Wish I could tell you that I built my ship too, but my skills don't pass beyond the stage of miracle working."

"You got your own ship?" replied the man. "Equally impressive; I see you've done your homework before coming here."

"I try," said Revan. "But as we stated earlier, we're here for business; now that business doesn't exist yet, but I've got a strong notion you'll like what we may have to offer."

"Is that so?" replied the man. "Well, allow me to just tell you a few things from my own standpoint. My secretary said that you came looking for work, so I assume that's what you offer. However, Mr. Jack Raven Kerr," the man paused for a second. "From your image through the security recording outside, I gathered your file, as well as Miss. Kae here. You arrived at this station approximately three hours ago for the first time. How much do you know about this company?"

Revan thought for a moment. "Arren, you care to chip in on this?"

"Sure," Lena replied. "But we try not to go solely by what we hear. We heard you were looking for smugglers and always had jobs available, and…"

"Bollocks," said the man with a smirk. "Gilpossie fits that description; not us. We're the more selective group. We look for substance and pay close attention to the people we hire. Our work is honest, but the scale can be large and that's what this work entails. That's what you've heard about us. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"I was getting to that," grunted Lena sourly.

"But your point remains the same," Revan interjected. "We understand new folks like us hoping to try our luck wouldn't fare well at a business like this. But perhaps you are aware that there is more to one than the file or lack thereof."

"That's what I hoped you would say," said the man. "It's true; grants legitimacy to people like yourself. I make no guarantees to you, but I did want you to know what you were getting yourself into. But you know what? Where are my manners? I'm Representative PYJ Gunthamore." He extended his hand out in the same fashion as Officer Borcka did and Revan caught it to shake it the proper way. "Now back to business…this is something I often like to tell people who either want a job or are recruited by us. I got where I am today because of my skills at reading people. I can usually tell if someone has what it takes to do our kind of work by looking them in the eye and conducting general conversations with them."

"And what do you make of our abilities?" Revan asked.

"You definitely seem like the capable sort," the Gunthamore conceded. "However, what I was also going to say. Appearances can be deceiving. So what does one in my position do at this moment?"

"You test us," Lena said.

Gunthamore smiled. "Indeed. And the form of this test is no physical strain or written exam. Jack, you are the Captain and as a result the leader of this crew, are you not?" Revan nodded. "Come with me."

Revan followed Gunthamore into adjacent room which was much smaller than the one he was previously in. At the center table, made for two there was a board. It was a checkered board with alternate black and white squares, eight across and eight vertical. The pieces were placed only on the white squares; 32 pieces per side.

"Ever played Checkers before?" Gunthamore asked as he and Revan sat down across from each other.

"I have," Revan replied. "But I'm not sure if the rules are the same where I'm from as they are here.

"Doesn't hurt to go over them," Gunthamore said somewhat giddily. "The blue pieces are yours, and the red are mine. Red always goes first; you move the pieces diagonally. Your piece can only move from one empty square to another, but if the opponent has a piece diagonally adjacent to yours, and the square diagonally behind it is free, your piece jumps it. This is an opportunity that you _must_ seize when it presents itself, but if more than one jumping option is available, you can take your pick. You can't jump the same piece twice and you can't jump over one of your own pieces. When the jump happens, the opponent's piece is taken off the board and you've officially captured it. You can jump as many pieces as you can. Your pieces can only move forward until they've reached the other side of the board, in which they become royalty and then they can move diagonally forwards _or_ backwards. Your goal is to capture and/or block every one of your opponent's pieces. Good?"

"Yeah, same rules basically," Revan replied. "The only notable difference is back where I'm from we play on black squares."

"I've heard about some places doing it that way," Gunthamore said somewhat empathetically. "But I never understood it. Think about it. Checkers was a game designed from the ancient art of war, where you take turns moving pieces to capture your opponents…capture, but not kill. Wouldn't this kind of non-bloody conflict be better fought during the day as opposed to the night, thereby the light squares instead of the dark ones?"

Revan smiled. "No arguments there. But you digress, so make your move."

* * *

_In the house of the late Belaya Kepeaeu…_

Bastila and Juhani had spent the last two hours looking around the house, after entering and finding their good friend murdered on the floor. Belaya now lay in a body bag to be taken back to the temple for proper cremation.

"Find anything in her bed room?" Bastila asked Juhani as she came down.

Juhani shook her head, still trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I believe the last time she was in that room was when she made her bed. That search was in vain."

Bastila sighed in mild frustration. "Juhani, I understand your sadness. Belaya was my good friend too, and one of the best Jedi I ever knew. But we have to stay focused. If you keep tearing up right now, you'll contaminate the crime scene."

"I get it," Juhani growled. "I am simply frustrated that I could not be there to help her. The relationship we had was like a Force bond. I felt her suffering and I felt her pain, but I delayed my reaction. What kind of friend am I?" Juhani slammed her fist on an end table and made a large crack in the wood.

"She was shot with a high caliber sniper rifle from a distance of at least one kilometer, and the shot came in through the window. I'm not glorifying it…but it was a quick death. Why would she feel any long period of pain and suffering if it was a quick death?"

Sirens suddenly came into play and three police units arrived on sight.

"They will contaminate the area," said Juhani. "It is better if we handle this."

"Says the one who smashed the desk in two," grumbled Bastila. But the thought occurred to Bastila as well." As the police officers entered the house, Bastila met them. "Gentlemen," Bastila said with a wave of her hand. "This is a Jedi affair. You have other matters to attend to." The police officers responded in affirmative and quickly left.

"There is one thing I also find troubling," said Juhani as Bastila walked back in to the living room. This floor and area around Belaya looks just a bit too clean…almost as if there was a struggle here but those that did the murder made an effort to clean up the place so to avoid detection."

"With the exception of the laser hole, Belaya was also in surprisingly clean condition, like she had been made that way after she died, so now we suspect an accomplice?" Bastila asked and said at the same time. "Normally I'm the more suspicious one, especially in situations like these, but I think we'll need to look around some more."

"Whether the killing was done by one or more people," answered Juhani. "The cleanliness of the carnage indicates that this was the work of a professional, not a psychopath. I would like to know who is pulling the strings."

"This may help your theory," Bastila said. "Take a look at this wall. It's been covered up, but only as of very recently. A head or limb of some kind was smashed through this wall. A fight definitely took place in this room."

"Why would a bunch of assassins break into this house to kill Belaya if they were just planning to shoot her and get it over with?" Juhani thought out loud.

"Maybe there were multiple groups involved and the other group shot her while the others were fighting her. She may have been winning the fight," Bastila said, thinking Juhani had asked her a question. Juhani stared at her, and then she shrugged her shoulders. "Just building off your accomplice theory…"

"Your logic is off a bit," Juhani said. "If Belaya was fought with by one group intending to kill her and then another group shot her, they would likely flee the scene. They would have had nothing to do with her killing technically, so there would be no reason to clean up the mess. No, this was done by the same group. But why try so hard to leave no trace? And why not just shoot her?"

Bastila thought for a moment. "You seem to have an odd ability to think much like these professionals," she commented.

"Turning to the dark side and nearly killing your master will do that to you," Juhani said hesitantly. "You should know the feeling just as well, having to bear the burden of apprentice to the Dark Lord."

"I'm just glad you didn't actually kill her," Bastila said, ignoring that last part. "Quatra was forgiving, but the council isn't. Whatever happened to her?"

"I looked for her after we returned from Malak," Juhani said. "I decided it best to give up the search and move on; and I never got around to asking the council about it. I do not even know what I would say if I saw her again."

"Framing!" Bastila suddenly said, in an almost excited tone that made Juhani jump.

"What?" she asked.

"That's got to be the explanation," Bastila said. By the sound of it, she had not fully developed this thought; it had just came to mind. "Whoever did this wanted us and those who found to think it was done by professional assassins. A real assassin would have tried to snipe her, and would have failed against a Jedi; _especially_ against Belaya. She was too good."

"So they brought in a bunch of men to fight her and weaken her?" Juhani asked.

"And then when her mind, body, and senses are occupied with them," Bastila said with more confidence now, like she was onto something. "The killer pulls the trigger, and that ends it. Then whoever is left standing cleans the place up and gets rid of the evidence before authorities find it."

"So much trouble just to kill a Jedi and get away with it?" Juhani asked. "What are they trying to prove? That it can be done?"

"No," Bastila said. "The point is to kill the Jedi; the second point is to offshoot the blame so we do not even think to blame whoever we may initially suspect."

"No chance of a Mandalorian or bounty hunter then?"

Bastila thought for another moment and then tilted her head back up with an epiphany. "I know who did this."

"You do?" Juhani asked. "How can you be sure? We were just speaking theoretically. We have no proof."

"We don't need proof when we have our instincts," Bastila retorted.

"I am sure that the council would like to hear your theory," Juhani said. "But I would like to hear it even more."

"I'll explain on the way. Let's go…"

* * *

_Back in the game room…_

Twenty minutes into the game, Gunthamore had only a mild advantage, having three of Revan's pieces captured to Revan having two of his pieces captured. Gunthamore had kept a good deal of his pieces stagnant with the exception of a few pieces that he consistently moved around the board. Revan on the other hand had rearranged the entire board with his pieces, moving almost all of them. After Revan moved another piece in a non-capturing turn, Gunthamore captured another piece and with that jump, got his piece made royalty. But Revan did not panic. He casually jumped a piece towards Gunthamore's side of the board as if anticipating Gunthamore's next move. But instead of moving his royal piece, Gunthamore moved one of his pieces farther away from Revan so to prevent him from jumping that one. For the next six turns, Revan made an effort to keep Gunthamore's royal piece where it was and force him to move the other pieces around the board. It worked, but at the cost of three more of his pieces. Revan made a rather obscure move, taking a piece in the center of the board to the right, capturing nothing. But as Gunthamore brought his royal piece into position to make a jump, Revan in turn jumped another piece and made one of his own a royal at the far right corner of the board.

"Nice move," Gunthamore said. "But you're bleeding in blue. Watch this." With his royal piece, Gunthamore diagonally hopped it across the board and took out six of Revan's pieces. Revan was now down to no more than nine, but as Gunthamore finished, he smiled.

"Well you know what they say," Revan said. "When two wild animals fight, neither of them leaves without a scratch." With that response, he took his royal piece and began zigzagging it across the board, jumping over a total of twelve pieces, including Gunthamore's royal piece. When they were all removed from the board, Gunthamore gasped to see that his remaining three pieces on the board were all blocked by Revan's pieces. "Checkmate," Revan said.

Gunthamore put his hands together and clapped slowly for Revan with an honest smile. "Well done," he said. "I thought for sure I had you, but I must say I have never been beaten like that at Checkers."

"So does that pass me your test?" Revan asked. "Am I hired?"

Gunthamore laughed. "I hired you before this game even began," he said. Revan gave him a curious look. "This game was for me to see how you think and therefore determine where to start you off."

"And?"

"You don't know much about MCA, but surely you know that it stands for Multi-Contract Airborne. It's a general title for a general field of work. We don't just smuggle goods. We're a corporate middleman and we contract with anyone who needs our ships and space labor and has the ability to pay for it. That makes this a dangerous job for those greedy and bold enough to try and cut us out, but overtime we've drilled a steak into a lot of different enterprises, and through that kind of legitimate business, we pass those opportunities as well as a great deal of the money involved to those who actually do the work. Most people who work for us are indeed smugglers and there is the occasional theft. But no one ever steals from us. We're secure and we're fair to our employees, but our work functions on what it needs to.

"You may be hired to take on a few passengers and quietly transport them elsewhere. Or you could be asked to salvage goods from one area and take them to another. When it comes to large scale conflicts, we are neutral, but if we are beckoned, we take the side that pays the most. Occasionally though, we get requests from small groups of people on planets, colonies or natives that are being harassed by others and need a hired gun. They'd contract with us, and so long as another company isn't contracted in that same game, we oblige. That's a rarity overall though. Have any questions?"

"What's the first assignment?" Revan asked somewhat eagerly.

"Hold your eagerness," Gunthamore said. "Let me go print your contract out. You go join Arren and gloat about your victory or something. I'll get back to you."

Revan walked back into the other room and saw Lena waiting for him. On the right side of the room was a shelf with some trophies and antiques on display. Though Lena wasn't moving her hands, she was merely staring at them, and through the Force, she was spinning them round and round and round. It was subtle, but Revan noticed it. Despite the urge to laugh, Revan sat down. "Nice win in there," Lena said. "So what now? We got a job?"

"Let's wait for the contract," Revan said. "But yes, I believe we do."

"That's good to hear," she replied. "I got contact from Yuthura while you were in there. She told me that they did a computer scan for anything on the True Sith, and they turned up empty. From the registered logs, no group or organization has done official business with any organization called "The Sith."

"Then maybe there's unofficial business with them?" Revan suggested.

"They ruled that possibility out too," Lena said, seeing that coming. "Regulations of business aren't strict in terms of mannerisms or sale procedure red tape. Where it's strict is transmissability and accountability, and no company has dared unofficial or illegal business with anyone in centuries. Now, what you said is still technically possible, but we would be far more likely to find it on another station or perhaps while we're out on the job."

"There are other stations like this?" Revan asked.

"Three others, identical in structure, and some companies like MCA have bureaus there as well as here. He's almost ready to come back," Lena changed the subject. "Make sure you read that contract. Even if it's 800 pages long. So many idiots nowadays don't realize the dangers in signing into a contract without reading it. It's as good as suicide."

"Don't worry I'll read it," said Revan with a chuckle. As he said this, Gunthamore came back into the room.

"Alright my friends," he said. "Here's the contract. Just a short three page thing; might I advise reading it?"

"Yeah we were just talking about that," Revan said with a smile. "Did you bring a copy for my first mate?"

"I figured you can look at it together," Gunthamore said. "Why waste paper?"

"I've never heard a good answer to that," Revan replied.

"That's because there isn't one," said Gunthamore flatly. "Wasting paper wastes money, money you could be using for something else. Saving paper makes for less usage of it, which overtime decreases its market value, and you could get it at a cheaper price; not that paper costs a lot anyway though. Simple economics…I'll leave you to your contract now."

Together, Revan and Lena looked over the contract. The details of the job were as follows. Smuggler Captain Jack Raven Kerr and his crew would enter into a freelance agreement with the Multi-Contract Airborne. Given smuggling licenses, they would do work either directly for MCA or another individual on behalf of MCA. Sixty five percent of the payment would go to the Captain, straight off the top, and the remaining thirty five percent would go to MCA. Revan would use his own ship but MCA would reimburse his fuel needs, and cover them with health insurance. Other than that, they were on their own. These jobs could be potentially dangerous but the pay was very worth it.

"What was that thing you said about something being too good to be true?" Revan asked.

"It's not the best deal," Lena said. "They're required to state publicly that we work for them from all regulations, and this contract is for a full year, subject to no salary raises of any kind until it is time to renew it. Plus the paid vacation time is the minimum standard, which is two months per year. That's actually not bad, but I think for the most part everything works out in our favor."

"So how does that not make it the best deal?" Revan asked.

"The best deal is the deal you have when you are a baby, at least one born into a family. You have no responsibilities, at least until you're able to walk, you can cry when you want something, and you can shit wherever you want. What I meant is, I think this deal is the best deal we're going to get, and unless you have doubts about something in the contract, I think we should sign."

"Only one doubt," Revan said. "But it can be addressed."

"Have you two finished looking it over yet?" Gunthamore asked as he came back in. "I really want you to sign the contract today. I trust the terms are acceptable."

"They are," Revan said. "And we are prepared to agree on them; but there is just one thing we need."

"What would that be?" Gunthamore asked, but even Lena looked at Revan with a spark of curiosity.

"Every bond you pay us from our sixty five percent cut, I want guaranteed notification of the transaction so I can see where the money went."

"That's part of the deal," Gunthamore said plainly. "We take care of that, and we take care of our employees."

"Good," Revan said. "So long as we are clear on that, here is my signature." Revan scribbled the initials _JRK_ onto the paper and underlined them twice. Lena signed the contract _ArrenKae_ with a squiggle on the end of the e.

"Welcome to the team, my friends," Gunthamore said with a smile.

* * *

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	25. Chapter 24: Trouble At Home

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

Chapter 24  
**

**Trouble At Home

* * *

**

Deep in the Outer Rim territories in the Jospro Sector was the planet Trogan. The planet was covered eighty percent with water, a percentage that was very slowly increasing through weathering and the workings of the oceans. Lush vegetation grew from the land and gave the land spots a natural beauty to them. But despite all that, the inhabitants of the world frequently endured high tides and rough stormy weather. The oceanic activity was marvelous. One could sit on a cliff and stare at the tides crashing against the rocks and beaches for hours. There was the opportunity for one to find peace when the weather permitted it, and then there were other times when the weather would force one into a survival struggle.

This dynamic was precisely the reason for a small Jedi Academy, secretly in the workings since the end of the war with Darth Malak. To the head Jedi Master, it was the perfect way to show the dual nature of the Force. There is the dark and violent side that could be overcome through proper teachings and most importantly attitude. Then there was the light and peaceful side where one could appreciate the beauty of nature and thus the beauty of the Force. The energy field that is the Force is a thing of beauty, but also a thing of unimaginable power. Such philosophy to relate to young apprentices was that of Jedi Master Quatra.

Quatra was once Juhani's mentor, and she was known for her unorthodox teaching methods. When Revan had first met Juhani, he had been forced to fight her in the Dantooine grove. Revan saved Juhani from the dark side and that was how she joined his party. But what had driven Juhani to the dark side in the first place was her impatience and quick tendency to anger. During a lightsaber sparring session, Juhani failed Quatra's test. In anger, Juhani lashed out and struck her master. Though her blade did nothing but bestow minor flesh wounds, Quatra decided to test Juhani's spirit and she feigned her death. In her guilt and her fear of the consequences, Juhani turned to the dark side, left the academy, and retreated to the grove. That was when Revan found her and brought her back, but by that time Quatra had left the academy. She and another small class of apprentices left the Dantooine academy before Darth Malak bombed it into dust, and they had found themselves here, on Trogan.

Two of Quatra's apprentices were exercise dueling, catching the eyes of the others, but Quatra watched with complete attention. Green and yellow lightsabers clashed and spun around, the two teenage girls trying to get the better of the other. Ferociously, they fought on, jamming each other up with barrages of swings. They moved their sabers to try and land hidden blows on each other, but none were successful. Both of them aimed another strong blow at each other and their sabers clashed. At the moment of clash, the both of them immediately pulled back and gained a bit of distance. As they slowly moved to close the distance and continue fighting, Quatra stopped them.

"Good," she said. "The less time you hold on the clash, the better. That kind of slugfest is just a waste of energy. But there's a small pattern I've noticed in the both of your fighting that I'd like to address.

"The both of you always attract a spectacle of attention when you fight, but what I have seen all too often is a lack of control. I'm not accusing you of being quick to anger or hot tempered or anything. What I am saying is, you get yourselves so deeply embedded into the duel, you get so passionate and adrenalized that it dulls your senses.

"You must understand control in order to understand what it means to be a Jedi. If you don't, you're just a thug with a lightsaber. When it comes to the dual itself, think of black and white dot focus. Black dot focus is when you can see a black dot in a white plane. In this kind of focus, you can see your target, but you can also see any other black dots that might appear. White dot focus is focusing entirely on that white dot in the black plane. It is tunnel vision, so you are not aware of the unknown. It is here, that your lack of control exists.

"Remember that there are always at least two opponents in a fight; the one you face, and the unknown. The unknown must become known, but that can only happen if you maintain your awareness of your surroundings. Your trial of skill will reflect that."

"I don't feel like Shaaila and I lack control at all," said Ada. "We just struggle with each other because we're both jammers and can't carve an opening."

"Which is precisely the problem," countered Quatra. "In the struggle against one another, you grow frustrated, and then you lose control before you realize it.

"Think of the boma, a ferocious and powerful beast that doesn't even know its own strength. Its presence can strike fear into the heart of its enemies and it cunningly uses that to gain the advantage. But it doesn't think beyond that. It doesn't develop intuition or foresight. Therefore, it cannot act. It can only _react_.

"Now think of the krayt dragon. The dragon is also very powerful, but it knows and fears its own power, for it is full of wisdom." She pointed to Ada. "Come here." Ada came and drew her lightsaber. But before she activated it, Quatra motioned her to put it away. She came within a four inch distance of Quatra.

"Yes master?" Ada said.

"This, students…" Quatra continued. "This is the boma." Quatra threw a right hook punch at Ada, and Ada predictably intercepted the punch with a strike of her own. They held it there so the others could see. "This is the dragon." Quatra threw another right hook at Ada, identical to the boma, and once again Ada caught it with the same technique. "The dragon, always has a choice." Ada looked down and saw that with her left hand, Quatra had brought an open hand strike within an inch of her stomach. Quatra tapped it with her fingers as a friendly gesture. "The boma never does."

"Wow," Ada said astonished.

"Remember that mastery of the Jedi Arts happens when the boma is seen but the krayt dragon prevails. I want you all to think very carefully on this," said Quatra. "Class dismissed."

The students dispersed and Quatra went over to another one of her students who was working on a computer terminal. "How goes it?" she asked him.

The apprentice working was eighteen year old Jace Myrther, one of her best students. He was dressed in light Padawan robes, which complemented his tan skin and his brown eyes. His hair was dyed into pure blond, and he had no facial hair. He was in very good shape, especially in his upper body. "My algorithm seems to be working," he said. "I think we now have another way of predicting the weather on this rock."

"That's good to hear," Quatra said, patting him on the head.

"With all due respect Master Quatra," Jace said as Quatra was about to walk away. "If I could just ask this?" Quatra nodded. "Why does Shaaila have a green lightsaber if she's a Jedi Guardian? Aren't they supposed to have blue?"

"The color of your lightsaber means less than nothing," Quatra said. "The blade cuts all just the same. She uses green because it's her favorite color, and so I let her choose. It's the same reason I let you use silver. You're a Jedi Sentinel, so by Jedi standards, you should be using yellow, but you found the silver crystal, and so I let you use that."

"It's a nice color," Jace admitted. "There's just another thing. I've never heard of a Jedi Master encourage students to take up other non-Jedi activities like being a computer technician. Why did you do that?"

Quatra smiled. "Because it is important to develop applicable skills in things dead to the Force," she said. "That's why. Being a Jedi has an opportunity cost – the ability to be something else. But a Jedi can't be so much the guardian of peace and justice in the entire galaxy to the point of forsaking caring about individual people. By taking up interests and hobbies in alternate fields, one can decrease that opportunity cost, and become even more useful than before. Oh, that reminds me," she digressed. "Now I remember what I wanted you to do. I have a friend at the local tavern who sent me a distress call last night. He's having some trouble with a group of thugs about your age who get drunk and smash things around, that sort of thing. He wanted me to send someone to help him out. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," Jace said. "I'd be happy to. When does he need me? Now?" Quatra nodded. "I'll be on my way then."

"Thank you," Quatra replied. "Good skill."

"Good skill?" Jace said.

"Oh, you know there isn't such a thing called luck," Quatra said. "But that was also my attempt to make a joke."

"I'll give you a D+," Jace said with a smile.

* * *

_Back on Coruscant…_

"Come in…" Zhar said. Bastila and Juhani together walked into the council chamber, stood in the middle circle, and bowed. "What can we do for you two?"

"Honorable masters, we have terrible news," Juhani said. "To put it bluntly, Belaya Kepeaeu is dead."

The council members exchanged glances with each other. "We felt something to that effect and we were just discussing now," said Vrook. "We believe she was murdered."

"She was," replied Juhani. "A high caliber sniper laser was fired through her window and hit her in the head." Bastila felt compelled to say more, but she bit her tongue, knowing the rest of them would eventually bring the conversation to something she could say.

"That explains why we didn't feel any of her pain," said Vandar wisely. "We were going to send someone to investigate but it seems your intuition put you a step ahead of us. Well done."

"Yes," Juhani said. "About four hours ago, I began feeling multiple disturbances in the Force. I felt Belaya in pain, and all I knew was that she was here. The more disturbances I felt, the more I was compelled to do something, but I did not want to bring this to you without anything else."

"So you and Bastila went off in a hurry to investigate this?" Vrook said in a suspecting tone.

"I…" Juhani hesitated but then spoke confidently. "Yes we did. But our search has not been in vain."

"No need to sound so defensive Juhani," said Lonna Vash.

"Masters," Bastila cut in. "Considering several factors, the exceptional condition of her body, and several things we found in the area, suggesting that a fight took place there before she was shot, and the room was tampered with to make look clean and unaffected…"

"Suggesting," Vrook interrupted. "But not proving."

Bastila too hesitated for a moment, but made a swift reply. "No, master; certainty isn't possible under these circumstances. We are giving you the best we have come up with."

"Once again," Vash said. "You speak much too defensively. You are agitated; relax and take a deep breath. We are not out to get you."

"Apologies masters," Juhani said slowly. "What Bastila was saying is we think that whatever suspect is most likely to emerge first on the list will most likely not be the culprit. Perhaps you should handle this Bastila; it was your theory."

Bastila gave Juhani a slightly irritated look, but making sure the council didn't see it. This wasn't going well; but she had to stay calm and remain as wise as possible for the council to actually take them seriously. "Belaya was killed by professionals," she finally said. "They did not underestimate her abilities, and when they fought her, it was merely to weaken and distract her to set up the sniper kill. Killing with a sniper rifle and then making sure the room is clean, would look like a one crazy man operation, but they must have understood that Belaya would be too smart to not see it coming." Bastila paused for a moment.

"Please continue Bastila," said Zhar. "No further questions asked on my end thus far."

"The killers clearly have some understanding of a Jedi's capabilities, especially one so skilled as Belaya," continued Bastila.

"It's true," said Vrook. "Her saber skills were better than yours, which is why I encouraged you to make friends with her and learn from her."

"A wise lesson," Bastila replied with a smile shielding her irritation. "But there is one more dimension. No matter how much the evidence was tampered, nothing takes away the fact that she was murdered this morning, and Juhani and I have been investigating this all day. Her house was no more than six kilometers away from here; we got there in ten minutes. They did not have much time to take care of everything, and they saw us coming. But we could feel no such disturbance of any kind before entering the scene, which means that they were already gone. They went overkill on cleaning the body and the room, which was what Juhani and I noticed."

"Forgive my interruptions Bastila," Dorak cut in. "But I'm not following your path here. Perhaps you had best get to the point?"

"Of course master," Bastila said. "I've seen that kind of efficiency before, but not from any normal person. Someone with the Force was involved in that cleanup, considering the efficiency, which suggests either a renegade Jedi, or…"

"_The Sith!_" Vandar gasped. "Is that even possible?"

"Anything is possible, Master Vandar," countered Zhar. "This is a well thought out story, but too much of a story for me to believe it."

"I agree," said Vrook. "Your proof ends with concluding that Belaya was killed by professionals."

"We understand she was your friend," Vash cut in. "And so you must be eager to uncover more about her death and follow up, but you may have had a rush to judgment."

"There is no emotion involved in us coming to the decision, if that is what you are worried about," Juhani said with confidence, but Bastila could sense the uncertainty in her heart.

"My point in mentioning the possible impossibility," Vandar said, as if he was deliberately mincing his words. "We felt something, but nothing like this. The Sith have not shown themselves to the Jedi since Malak's death, and the Republic has not been able to find even a trace of them anywhere. Are our senses so blind that the Sith could be hiding right here on Coruscant and we could not pick that up? That to me is what sounds farfetched."

"Interesting point, Master Vandar," replied Vash. "Bastila, Juhani, at this point I think it is clear that the council has some talking to do, but I implore you to continue your investigation into this until you come up with something concrete. The truth is out there and it can be found. I just don't think you've found it yet."

Bastila was both angered but almost relieved to hear these words. It was like she knew that the minute she left this chamber, some kind of argument would erupt in the chamber. "Yes Master Vash," she said as she and Juhani nodded. "Please excuse us." They left the room.

And Bastila was right.

"The eyes of the Jedi cannot be blind Master Vandar," Zhar said.

"_Here we go again,_" thought Vandar. "I am not saying that I believe them; I meant to imply that if the Sith were responsible, then we are truly blind." He sighed, hoping to change the subject slightly. "I only wish Revan was here. His insight and expertise would be useful for this predicament."

"No good would come of it," said Vrook almost immediately. "We do not need his 'insight' or whatever 'wisdom' he harbors underneath that hypnotic charisma of his. He hasn't shown his face in this room in over a year, because he no longer wishes to be one of us. When one leaves the Order, the Order's need for that person diminishes and then dissipates. You all may find it a troubling thought, but we must be self-reliant and accept that fate. We will be stronger for it, and I know that if she were here, Master Atris would back me up."

"I saw you rehearse this speech months ago," said Vash with a smile. "Is it going as well as you'd like?" Vandar gritted his teeth at the remark, withholding his laughter, and expecting Vrook to fly off the handle.

But Vrook kept calm. "I think I made my point," he said with a frown.

"Master Vash, let's not poke Master Vrook needlessly," Zhar said. "But we do need Atris right now; too bad she is still investigating the death of Master Draay."

"I know her frequency code to contact her," replied Vash. "But before we do that, Master Zhar, you seem to have played devil's advocate here. Can I ask what you think on this?"

"I think we've just tragically lost a member of our order who was loyal, dedicated, wise, powerful, smart, kind, and a good friend to all. And I think that her life was unfairly taken from her by someone who wanted her dead. And I think that discussing Revan is irrelevant right now."

"_He would say that,_" thought Vandar. "_He doesn't have an opinion…should I call him out on this? No…it adds nothing to the discussion._" "I only brought up Revan because I think it may be necessary to go and look for him and try to get him to come back to us. Belaya is dead, if the Sith truly are the ones responsible, then that means that Revan was right the last time he was here in saying that we should take more proactive measures to deal with them, and therefore we could use him again."

"It cannot be right," Zhar said. "Is it not obvious?"

"No," replied Vash. "It's not. It's just an improbability."

"If we are about to start planning to take action on this," Vrook interrupted. "Then we ought to have our facts straight. We do not. Aside from the cremation, I say we must be patient and clear our minds so that we can clear out this threat. It is our best and only course of action should we decide at this moment to take it."

"Master Dorak," said Vash. "You have spoken nary a word. It's time to weigh in."

Dorak looked up and scratched his chin. "I have a feeling that Bastila and Juhani know more than they told us; perhaps a breach of transparency. But the feeling is not strong; perhaps a stray thought. What I think is that we need Atris back before we make a decision."

Vandar sighed inside his mind, somewhat relieved at Dorak's comment. It seemed that the conversation could finally end, even though it was his fault it got to the point of talking about Revan in the first place. "Very well," he said as he stood up. "Master Vash, if you'd like, I can place the call for you."

"At your prerogative, Master Vandar," Vash said as she handed him the datapad. Vandar walked out of the room.

* * *

_Back on Artagnan…_

Atris entered Lucien Draay's home through the main door to find the whole place completely dark with the stink of death and decay about. She took out her lightsaber and switched on the glowing blue and white blade for illumination. All her senses were telling her that the place was empty, but she wasn't about to walk in unprepared. It had taken her over a week to find it, navigating studiously through the Jedi archives, looking at Lucien's family files and tracing the money trails backwards to find out where the Jedi Master had retired to. Lucien had covered his tracks well; he really didn't want to be found.

The Jedi Master passed the dormitories, noticing the beds empty and made perfectly with flattened surfaces and the sheets and blankets placed before the pillow in a four inch fold, tucked underneath the mattress. Looking in the mess hall briefly as she moved past it, she opened the door to find the smell of something else that had been burning for a while, but the fire had been doused, so only the smell remained. She coughed and closed the door.

The door up ahead was a heavy door with no window, locked and sealed by a lightsaber. Without even thinking, Atris cut a big hole through the wall and blasted it through. It was the main training room. Lucien's Padawans lay dead all over the floor, and the floor was littered with lightsaber burns and scratches from a recent battle. The heads of the Padawans were left in the corner, and Atris turned away in disgust. She resisted the urge to shed tears in an effort to control her emotions and continued onward. Lucien wasn't in this room, but there was another body somewhere else. She could feel it; close, but down another hallway.

Coming up on another door, fused shut with a lightsaber, it was a completely narrow hallway she was in, so she couldn't cut a hole in the adjacent wall. She pulled from her tool belt a small plastic explosive and pasted it to the wall. Backing up a few meters, she blew the door open. She entered the library.

Bookshelves were scattered along the walls, and multiple doors led to different sections with more shelves and more books. In the middle of the floor was the headless body of Lucien Draay. But Lucien's head could not be found. He was riddled with scratches and cuts all over his body, some of them looking quite lethal. There was no blood around his body, but that did not stop the tears from streaming down Atris' face.

"No…" she whispered as she knelt down. "My instincts were right…and from a lightsaber too…?"

The Sith had to be responsible, but how could that be? They barely exist! They could not possibly have vast numbers, or the Jedi and Republic could have found them…or could they? Atris' head swirled with possibilities, but they were interrupted from her communicator going off. The Jedi Council was calling her.

She opened it up. "Yes?"

"Master Atris," Vandar said through the other end. "How fares your search?"

"It's terrible Master," Atris responded, wiping away the tears to hide them. "Lucien and his students are dead; all of them headless. My vision was right."

Vandar was about to say something but he held his tongue and the two of them remained silent for a few seconds.

"You still there?" asked Atris, not wanting him to leave.

"Yes I am," Vandar replied. "I'm so sorry…he was my friend too. This is terrible."

"I just…" Atris paused. "No, this isn't right. No emotion; just peace."

"Atris," replied Vandar in a soothing voice. "We've just experienced a tragedy, the murder of a friend. All Jedi who experience something terrible like that have a grace period in which they can react naturally. I do not believe that by bottling up the emotion that is clearly present in our human hearts is the correct thing to do, because it makes it more difficult to control. And I know that deep inside, you want to cry as much as I do. It is alright, and I think that most of us in the council would understand."

Atris was now literally in tears. The communication was audio only, and Atris wondered if Vandar had figured out that she was in that unwilling state, but Vandar's words were comforting. "Oh Master Vandar," she finally responded, her lips wet with her own tears. "I never got a chance to tell him how sorry I was for shunning him the way I did. I threw away our whole friendship in anger when I didn't even know all the facts about his encounter with the dark side. I just saw the red lightsaber, and then I might as well have just exiled him. I seem to have a knack for that sort of punishment. Oh Master, I'm a terrible Jedi."

"Please do not say that about yourself," replied Vandar. "There are some things in this galaxy which the Force leaves out of our control Atris. Sometimes, when we lose someone we care about, we like to blame ourselves for some kind of wrongdoing or trespass we may have done on them, so that we can try and make sense of it all; but we are Jedi. We understand that death is a natural phase of life, one that we are all destined for, just as sure as the fact that we were born. Though he was murdered, we must find comfort and rejoice in the fact that as a Jedi, Master Draay is now one with the Force."

Atris smiled from Vandar's soothing words. She felt better already, as if she was a complete wreck a minute ago. "I know that my pride hindered me from asking you for your wisdom, but I want you to know that I really appreciate this, Master Vandar. Your timing was perfect also; I had just found him." Atris smiled again, wiping away her tears again.

"It is of no trouble at all," Vandar replied. "I can understand if you wish to stay and investigate this, but we have another problem brewing back on Coruscant, and the others wish your prompt return."

"It may take me a few days," said Atris. "I still want to…" Atris paused as she noticed a small anomaly on the bookshelf that appeared out of place. Her senses began tingling, as if the Force was intentionally guiding her in that direction. It was nothing more than a large book on the shelf against the wall to her left, but the library was organized by genre perfectly to the decimal. This red book, at about medium level and titled_ Master Conuyo: A Jedi's Role in Politics_, on the shelf had no coding on it. It was not even an obsessive compulsive cleaner trait of Atris' character that took over and told her to check it out; it was the Force.

"Master Atris?" she heard Vandar call through the communicator. "Is everything okay?"

"I'll call you back master," Atris said. "I just want to check something out." Atris disconnected and headed towards the book. She took it off the shelf and opened it up. The pages were completely blank. There was not a single piece of text on any page. "_What is this? Some type of joke? Jedi shouldn't be in politics; you don't need a blank book to make that kind of statement,_" Atris thought. Feeling a little awkward at this moment, Atris looked behind her, only to notice Lucien's body completely gone, it had just disappeared entirely and all that was left were the blood stained robes he was wearing. Atris placed the book back into the shelf, and she unwittingly placed it upside down…

And the entire bookshelf began to rotate to reveal a hidden chamber, Atris reflexively followed through like one entering a revolving door. She had now suddenly entered a new room, a small room, almost like a private office, but there was no desk. Instead, was a wall with two rows of shelves that stretched all around the walls and they were filled with holocrons of all different kinds; Jedi and Sith. There were not too many of these, and most of the holocrons were Jedi ones, signaled by the blue glow around them, but it seemed that she had just stumbled upon a private collection.

"What is this?"

* * *

_The next day__…_

"I think we should talk to Carth about Belaya," said Bastila to Juhani, in the cockpit of Bastila's ship.

Juhani stretched back in her chair, enjoying the view of hyperspace. "Are we not on our way to Telos for exactly that reason?"

"We're going there because he summoned us," replied Bastila. "But I think it was best for us to get away from the council for now. They probably won't make a decision until Atris gets back…whenever that happens."

"What do you think that decision will be?" Juhani asked curiously.

Bastila shrugged her shoulders. "Probably another long series of meditation," she guessed. "They don't like getting creative. That's why I don't completely trust them."

"It is interesting," Juhani said. "If I had asked you this same question a year and a half ago, you would have said something like: 'You must be patient and trusting of their wisdom. They have all the answers and what they keep from you is only in your best interests.' When did all the cynicism begin?"

Bastila shrugged her shoulders again. "Revan's mark on me most likely," she replied honestly. She had not so much thought about that until Juhani brought it up, but it was true. When she had begun her travels with Revan during Malak's reign, Bastila wanted nothing more than to be worthy of the rank of Jedi Master. Before embracing wholeheartedly her love for Revan, she believed it best to use the experiences with him as a stepping stone for her to get to the top. It was selfish, but also out of love and admiration for the council. Perhaps it was turning forth and back from the dark side that brought out the skepticism? Or maybe it really was by itself the influence of Revan.

"He does enjoy questioning authority," Juhani said with a mild giggle. Bastila almost wanted to give her an irritated look, but her second thoughts told her that she was right again. "Maybe that is how he became an authoritarian figure to some degree as a Sith Lord; ironically one that none of his subjects questioned."

"They couldn't," replied Bastila. "He gave them no reason to. When Malak questioned his authority, Darth Revan cut his jaw off. But if his personality transgressed into his dark ways, then I suspect that compiled with the honor of even standing before him, his charisma made him understandable even to the level of the grunt." Juhani did not think of the significance in her mincing of words, but Bastila had deliberately added in 'Darth' before mentioning Revan as a Sith. In her heart, Bastila knew that no matter what he was doing, the Revan she knew and loved, and the dreaded Sith Lord Darth Revan were two different people. She could not be more thankful that Revan resisted her own call to return to that state of being, and then proceeded to bring her back.

The controls began to beep rapidly. "We're coming out of hyperspace," Bastila said. "Entering the Telos system in 3…2…1…" Bastila pushed the lever forward and the vortex of hyperspace faded back into regular stars, with Citadel Station dead ahead. "The desk job must be killing him," Bastila remarked somewhat out of the blue.

"At least we will be making it interesting, right?" said Juhani. Bastila nodded and engaged contact with Citadel control.

Ten minutes later, her ship was docked safely inside the shield and the two of them were on their way to the monorail. The monorail took them straight to Carth's office in the military headquarters, in the same place as it was last time. The only difference was, this time Carth's office was moved to upper floor, and his space was a bit more than before.

"Carth," said Juhani as they entered. "Nice office."

Carth snickered a bit. "I needed it to match the workload," he said. "But yeah, it's nice and roomy."

"At least the pay is good," Bastila said. "But I imagine you didn't take a military career for the money."

"No, I didn't," responded Carth. "Anyway, I'm sure you must be wondering why I called you here. I myself am wondering why you responded so promptly, almost as if you were planning on coming anyway."

Bastila and Juhani said nothing, but merely waited for Carth to continue. "The simple fact is I'm getting promoted again. Dodonna's going to promote me to Rear Admiral Lower Half."

"Congratulations Carth!" Bastila exclaimed. "I knew that would happen sometime!"

"Indeed," Juhani said with a big smile. "We are very happy for you. This is no small promotion."

"Well it's more just on an official capacity," said Carth. "Dodonna told me she's wanted to do this for a few months now, but the Armed Services Committee wasn't ready to hear a word about it until now. She told me it was best to just lay low until it could be done. So I've been here, bearing essentially all the responsibilities of an Admiral, but no stars on my shoulders, and none of the credit."

"The Armed Services Committee has to approve you?" Bastila said. "I didn't even know that was the official procedure."

Carth nodded. "It's been that way for a while. But it generally isn't given much media attention until an approval happens, but even then, no one talks about the hearings. They're too strung up talking about the record and achievements of the past, and all that good stuff."

"I see," replied Bastila. "Well this is excellent news. It looks like all your hard work has paid off."

"Might even get the chance to see some action with the new promotion, I despise desk work." said Carth rolling his eyes. "But that's optimism at its best. I asked you here, not only to tell you that, but to ask for at least one of you to show up to my hearing and make a statement voucher for me."

"Of course Carth," replied Juhani. "I would be more than happy to do that."

"I shall as well," added Bastila. "Carth, if you don't mind me prying, I sense that there's something else that you want to tell us, possibly grimmer news than you've given so far?" It was a mild sense Bastila had, but she knew Carth well enough to ask.

"As a matter of fact, there is," replied Carth. "And I had a feeling you were going to say that. But you aren't going to like this."

"Well get on with it then please," said Juhani. "We brought you the bad news last time; I suppose it is only fair."

"No jokes Juhani," Carth said somewhat sternly. "This is rather serious. The Republic is and has been investigating a security breach that happened a little over two months ago. And it has to do with the last time we all spoke."

Bastila stared at Carth and Carth returned the stare. "Oh no…" Bastila finally said. "Someone was listening on our conversation!"

"It appears that way," said Carth grimly. "It was an audio hack only, not holographic. We can't find out who but the slicer working at the time told me that he found the breach in the communication coming straight from my office the day we all spoke, and though he managed to kill the signal, he believes that at least a fragment of our conversation was transmitted through. Which part…he doesn't know."

Bastila closed her eyes and kept them shut for a few seconds. This was frightening, especially to her. In that conversation, she not only revealed and theorized about the significance of Jolee's death thereby revealing that information they wanted to keep hidden, but she stated explicitly the details of her distrust for the Jedi Council. "This is bad…we transmitted so much information through, and on a secure channel too. Who could have possibly penetrated that? And why has there been no progress after two whole months?"

"The slicer killed the hack but only because he figured out that he couldn't trace it. The incoming codes were in encrypted language that wasn't recognized in this system, and it turns out that at least ten other systems use that same encrypted language, so we have a massive search parameter, but no way to precisely pin point where the hack came from. We just know it wasn't nearby." Carth said with a very uneasy tone.

"That is why you called us here," concluded Juhani. "You did not want us communicating through inter-planetary channels."

"No I didn't," Carth agreed. "But as the slicer said, only a fragment of the conversation went through. The hackers could just know that Jolee is dead…or they could have names and detailed files on all of us from that."

Bastila and Juhani looked at each other. Bastila could tell Juhani now wanted badly to tell Carth about Belaya. Without even a motion, Bastila, through the Force gave a go-ahead.

"Carth, I am afraid that like before, we too have come with some bad news, but I was hesitant to tell you." Carth nodded, but said nothing. "You remember Belaya Kepeaeu, yes?" Carth nodded again. "Two days ago, she was murdered, shot to the head with a sniper in her home; assassinated."

Carth leaned back and sighed. "That's a damn shame," he said. Bastila wanted to say more, but she knew that Juhani still had more to say.

And she was right again. "But there is more Carth," Juhani continued. "Bastila and I investigated her death and we found a few anomalies." Juhani thoroughly explained everything they found and theorized about at the scene of the crime, as well as what the council's reaction was. Carth had asked a few questions in the middle, but the answers to those questions had always lied in the next statement Juhani was going to make.

"So the Sith killed her and tried to make it look like the work of professional bounty hunters," Carth summarized. "Because that makes so much sense," he added with an air of sarcasm. "The Sith don't kill in a clean way…they like it bloody, messy, and easily traceable."

"How do you know this?" asked Juhani.

"Back in my earlier career, right before the Mandalorian War, I headed up an investigation of a Republic military assassination. When we found the body, it was chopped up by the limbs and placed on a large dinner table in alphabetical order of the part's name. Then, on the walls, written in blood, the killer had written 'Darth Hayze was here.' We told the council about it, and that was the end of that, but that's my point. The Sith don't kill in very merciful ways."

"What makes you think they didn't change their tactics?" asked Bastila. "I mean…let's face it; they must have. To disappear off the grid and remain hidden for over a year…clearly this is not the same Sith we're dealing with. Whoever leads them now is clearly far more subtle than Malak."

"I agree," said Juhani. "These are most likely the assassination types of Sith…which is a enemy we have not yet known. They killed Jolee…now Belaya was their second target."

"So let me guess," Carth said. "You're now going to make the claim that it was the Sith who listened in on our conversation?"

"I would not put it past them Carth," Bastila responded in a slightly irritated tone. Even for one who could not feel the Force, how could Carth not realize that these events are connected? They had to be; if the Sith really were listening in, that would be no coincidence at all. Or perhaps, Carth had something else in mind. Carth was always thinking…he definitely had something in mind. Perhaps he just wanted to know what they thought first? These ideas and suggestions were stifling through Bastila's head, but for now, it might be necessary to drop the irksome tone before this turns into a shouting match. "This can't be just coincidence that someone was listening in. It just can't be."

Carth snickered again slightly. "I must say…it just never gets old with you two."

Juhani laughed in response which surprised Bastila slightly, but she held on to her serious demeanor. "Let's ignore contemplating the endless possibilities for what fraction of our conversation they heard and just assume the listener heard the whole thing, for the sake of simplicity. They know our names, our voices, and our plans. The Sith are our enemies, and so if they knew our plans, what is the best way to throw a monkey wrench into them?"

"We must also keep in mind that this is no longer a pattern of one," added Juhani. "This is now becoming a conspiracy, and we are caught in the middle of it."

"Juhani, you can think like them better than I can…" Bastila remarked.

"It is difficult to say," replied Juhani. "Carth, the Sith have in the past, used a mosaic of foreign codes to crack our security network have they not?" Carth nodded. "If I were them and I wanted to keep an even lower profile, I would want to up the ante on that even further, because that would decrease the probability of the Republic thinking it was the Sith."

"And increase the chances of it being just some computer hacker with no life," added Carth. "That's a distinct possibility. And yes, I second that, it would certainly help."

"At the very least," continued Juhani. "Perhaps they did not realize coming into our conversation that they would be coming into our private conversation specifically."

"That's also possible," Carth replied. "And actually, now that you mentioned it, quite probable; most intelligence teams we have here have very few elite hackers who specialize in writing up codes and algorithms to crack a specific security network firewall. Most others, when it comes to spying on the enemy, they'll write up a more generic type of artificial code, and then stick it where they can in the hopes of catching something worth hearing."

"That is what I thought you would say," said Juhani. "If I were the Sith, and determined to stay hidden, I would have to know exactly where my enemy is and what they are doing. I would perhaps write up a generic code like that and place it at some vulnerable point in the network past the firewall where it would not be easily detected, and then tune in to see what I come up with. They would have just been looking for Republic chatter worth listening to, and instead they stumbled upon us. Now to me, that sounds much more like coincidence because such machines are dead to the Force."

Bastila believed herself to be baffled by Juhani's statement, but after taking a step back, this made complete sense. In spite of how little they knew about the Sith, this made complete sense. Her thoughts were merely repeats of what Juhani had just said.

Before she could speak, Carth spoke first. "Yeah, I think the Sith pulling a stunt like that may no longer be declared an improbability. It's just hard for me to believe that they're so successful at being subtle."

"They have new and effective leadership," said Bastila. "Under most circumstances, I'd say you would be right, but desperate times call for desperate measures. We definitely hurt them with the destruction of the Forge."

"We should also assume then," continued Carth. "That the head of the Sith knows us and our intentions. So now my question is, where does Belaya's death fit into this? Reaction?"

"Possibly," said Juhani. "But the Sith are only prone to react so long as it fits into their overall plan."

"And what is their plan?" Bastila asked. "They're on the hunt, and yet we cannot hunt them."

Before the question could be addressed, Carth's communicator went off. He switched it off. "Look, the two of you are going to have to brainstorm this some more tonight. Tomorrow I am not here; I have to fill in for a routine inspection of the 9th fleet. We can reconvene in two days time for lunch, but now I have a meeting with a couple of JAG lawyers that I need to leave to. I've reserved an apartment for you. Go to Residential Module 081 East and tell them who you are."

"Thank you Carth," said Juhani. "We will meet you here at noon two days from now."

* * *

_ The encampment was burning, fire and smoke everywhere, his tent was a pile of ash, and bodies of the students lied completely lifeless on the dirt. The smell of smoke and decay brought poison to Jace Myrther's lungs, but if that was not enough to take is breath away, it was the menacing black-garmented figure that stood in front of him. _

_The figure stood tall and powerful over Master Quatra, who was on the ground, shuffling further and further away from him. The large man in the white ghost-like mask pointed merely a finger at her, and Quatra froze, now put in stasis. The man looked over in Jace's direction who could not move but felt frozen from the ice in his blood. The dark gloved finger turned into an open hand that sucked the life out of Quatra's heart. Jace watched in horror as his master died right in front of him. The man turned in his direction and began walking towards him…_

"WARNING: LARGE TREE APPROACHING…" said the automated alarm on Jace's speeder. Jace immediately recovered his senses from the vision and swerved to the right, but it was too late. The speed he was travelling at, combined with the sharp turn put the speeder into a rapid spin, still heading towards the tree.

"_Useless piece of shit!_" Jace thought in the midst of the dizziness. In all of his strength, he ejected from his seat with a Force jump. The speeder crashed and crumbled almost completely and Jace himself flew into the branches. He reached out his hand to grab onto a branch, but his hand found only leaves. "_No! No! NO!_" Jace landed on one thick branch and bounced off. He bounced off another…and another, until he finally hit the ground.

"_Urgh!_" he cried as he slowly got up. He tried to move, but he felt restrained in his left leg. He looked down at it, and found a small but somewhat thick stick from the tree embedded in it. He grabbed it and slowly pulled it out. He wailed in pain as he did so, but he was relieved when it was finally out before it could infect his leg. Jace wrapped up his leg and stemmed the bleeding with the shirt he was wearing.

He recovered his survived items from his speeder, which thankfully was everything he needed. He packed them all into a large empty backpack he had stowed away in the trunk and threw it onto his back.

"Great…" he said to himself. "Another nature hike…"

* * *

_Sarge42 and I wish all of you a very happy New Year's Day.  
_

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	26. Chapter 25: The Kindness of Strangers

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy**

* * *

**Chapter 25**

**The Kindness of Strangers**

* * *

A carriage, pulled by a small pack of domesticated animals was fording a wide shallow river on a remote world called Ursayam. Controlling the animals was a man dressed in casual clothing and wearing a large round hat, and beside him was his wife, in a thin cheaply made dress and her face concealed by a bonnet. Behind the two was a carriage filled with medical supplies.

It was a warm and mildly cloudy day. Not much civilization existed here, but the stable underground proved to be a hotbed for black market storage facilities. As the carriage continued moving against the mild currents, a moderately sized group of individuals in speeders caught up to them and surrounded the carriage. The man did his best to stop and control the animals from panicking, but the men stopped in their speeders and while keeping it hovered above the water, got their boots wet, stepping out.

"You disappoint me, stranger," said the leader of the pack that appeared to be five men, all of them armed and dangerous. "As if you really thought you could just steal from us and walk away."

The man kept his hat on and bowed his head down just enough for the men to not see the details of his face. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about," he said. "But as you can see my livestock is getting a little restless standing still in the water."

"Your livestock will be more than restless if you don't give us back our goods," the leader barked. "And I'm thinking as an added bonus for sparing your lives, you're going to give me a little one on one time with your blushing bride here. What do you think?"

"Oh my," said the man without a hint of panic in his voice. He looked up and took his hat off. Though the men didn't recognize him, it was Revan himself. "I'm thinking that you just might want to reconsider that last part." The leader gave Revan an odd look. "You see," Revan continued. "I married me a powerfully hideous creature."

"Objection:" began the individual in the dress. "How can you say that! After all my years of loyalty and extermination for you, how can you not at least spare me the degradation of mocking my glorious appearance!"

"If I could make you prettier I would!" countered Revan with a smile growing on his face. The other men exchanged glances and gave Revan an even more perplexed look, now noticing a crimson colored hunter killer droid in a dress.

"Observation: You are not the man I met years ago." In half a second, Revan and HK-47 drew their firearms and pointed them straight at the leader and the ones nearest by. Revan had two pistols in his hand, one of them Bendak Starkiller's modified blaster, and a Mandalorian Ripper in the other. HK-47 whipped out his Baragwin Assault Gun and aimed it at the head of the leader. "Statement: Master perhaps you would allow me to take my anger at you out by dusting this meatbag."

"Not so fast HK," Revan replied. "I've got a few words to say to these gentlemen."

The leader of the pack had not drawn his gun yet, and neither had the rest of the men. They were too startled by Revan's move.

"Now understand this!" continued Revan. "I'm taking these goods, because that's what I was paid to do. What I _wasn't_ paid to do was take your lives too, so I really don't want to do that. I am prepared at this moment, to let all five of you leave peacefully with all your precious pieces. But…should any of your hands go for metal, I swear by my assassin droid's pretty little bonnet that you will be dropping like flies in a matter of seconds."

"You clearly have no understanding of who I am or who you're dealing with," the leader replied.

"I know _exactly_ who I'm dealing with," Revan replied. "I'm dealing with a two-bit pistol jockey with a mouth bigger than his gun; and I'm _not_ referring to the gun at your side."

The man was enraged. "_Take them!_" he yelled, and as he reached for his weapon, HK-47 fired and hit him straight between the eyes. Before the other men could react, a fragmentation grenade was thrown from behind Revan at their feet, and exploded, killing three of them. Only one remained and he was completely frozen. He looked over to the back of the carriage and there was Lena poking half her body out the opening, and giving him a sarcastic salute.

"You yourself have been the smarter one!" Revan exclaimed. "You hesitated to draw your gun, and as a result, you really couldn't until you realized how horribly outnumbered you are, but even now, I know you aren't going for it. So I'll re-extend the offer just for you. Pick a suitable direction, take your speeder, and go. Don't look back either; my assassin droid will have his gun aimed at your head, and as you can tell…he's a pretty good shot."

The last standing henchman merely nodded and then left in his speeder without looking back.

"Too easy," said Lena. "You do realize this was merely their way of stopping us from thinking that we might be walking right into an ambush right on the other side of the river…right?"

"Of course," Revan replied. "But lucky for us, all they'll find is an empty carriage." Revan pressed a button in his pocket, activating a beacon attached to the goods. Within seconds, the _Ebon Hawk_ swooped down and hovered just above the water for the ramp to come down without getting wet. Lena got on board, and pulled the crates on the ramp with Revan and HK-47 pushing. Revan and HK-47 got on board at the same time for the ramp to close.

Meanwhile, the men waiting to ambush them on the other side of the river came out into the open after spotting the ship. Through their binoculars, they saw the ramp close with everyone inside, and they also noticed the bottom quadlaser turrets aimed right at them, with an upside down kid sitting at the helm. Dustil figured they'd be watching so he waved his hand in a sarcastic friendly gesture.

With that, the _Ebon Hawk_ blasted off into space, creating a ripple in the tides that made the animals filled with panic and so they hustled to the end of the river.

"Remind me again why Lena wasn't the one in the dress," said Dustil as he climbed up from the turret.

"Tactics my friend," Revan replied. "I needed her in the back. HK's appearance was for the shocker effect."

"Awful nice of you to give them those oxen looking critters back," said Lena. "At least you didn't take more than you had to."

"Yeah well…if those things stink that bad on a regular basis, they can have them. Ugh, I need a shower. Let's get to Spyroc as soon as we can. Our client is waiting."

"Aye aye Captain."

* * *

_Back on Trogan…_

After a nonstop trek through the night, bushwhacking through the tall grass and moving up and down the occasional hill, Jace was on his way up a tall mountain that he would have normally gone around, but the way up and over was faster. Dawn arose over the horizon, and Jace only barely managed to appreciate it once he reached the summit, and sat on a rock for some rest, putting his backpack down beside him. A ship flew over his head and headed beyond the atmosphere.

Jace felt even more ill about wrecking his speeder, in spite of that really odd disturbance he witnessed in his head shortly before. Master Quatra had talked about disturbances in the Force, but he had never experienced one before. He didn't even know if that was a disturbance he felt. It was just weird…and scary. Jace could barely comprehend the vision. Or maybe it was just a day dream. One couldn't take day dreams seriously. As Quatra said, dreams pass in time.

Jace was exhausted. Quatra would be proud of him for going through it and coming out unharmed. It probably took more skill to do this than the trial of skill, but Jace didn't know if that was really the case. Then again, maybe not; Quatra would probably expect this of him. He was a Padawan on the verge of knighthood. If he couldn't complete a simple task of walking twenty kilometers to a mountain, over the mountain, and then another two kilometers more back to the camp with sixty pounds on his back on his own, how could he be expected to complete successfully the trials? Quatra had trained him well. He was good, definitely good enough to be a knight. His physical fitness was at an all time high, though this was not saying much due to the overweight problem he had struggled to overcome throughout his years.

Jace stretched his back and his legs, and took a peak over the mountain towards the camp. A mound of smoke rose up above a small forest clearing past the bottom of the mountain.

"Huh…" said Jace out loud. "Must be someone having an early morning campfire near our place." Then Jace suddenly blinked with an aching feeling. He took out his binoculars and peered out again. "_THAT'S NOT A CAMPFIRE! THAT'S A WILDFIRE AT OUR CAMP!_"

Without thinking any further, Jace grabbed his backpack and sprinted down the mountain. He moved dangerously fast, especially with the extra weight on his back, but he was determined to see what had happened. Could the vision had come true? No…the guy who killed Quatra in his dream was looking right at him…or maybe at something past him. Jace hadn't thought of that until now while running at full speed.

Jace skidded to a halt in front of the camp, when he came upon the ruins thereof. His vision had come mostly true. The camp was on fire, his tent turned to a pile of ash, along with several of the other tents. Bodies of his classmates were scattered on the ground, all of them completely lifeless. Quatra was lying, right in the middle of the encampment. Jace came up to her and felt her pulse. He felt nothing.

Quatra's face was motionless; she was more than just dead; it was as if her life was sucked completely from her body. Jace knew it, that large man was here. She lied in his arms, his knees in the dirt. He broke into a flurry of tears, and right at that moment, the rain came down. The fires were extinguished, and Jace's tears were assimilated with the water dripping down his face. The rain soaked his clothes, coming down hard.

How could he have let this happen? Did Quatra see this coming? Did she perhaps know that this was about to happen so she sent him away on some random errand that any of the other students could have done? Did she have some special destiny in mind for him? Jedi Masters always talked about fate and destiny, about how the Force is both a guide and an asset. Did she believe Jace was meant for something else? Or was it just pure luck? But Quatra also said there is no luck. Was that ship that flew over his head carrying the ones responsible?

Jace's thoughts were blabbering madly in his head in the midst of his emotional breakdown. Here was his life and everyone he knew and cared for, dead as the victims of the Iridian plague. He had no family…no one he remembered ever leaving behind when he was given up by his parents at the age of three. His family was all here…and now gone. This wasn't fair. This simply wasn't fair. Why him? Jace couldn't help but to feel like the most selfish and immature punk in the galaxy. Why was he the only survivor? Why couldn't anyone else survive? Death might have just been preferred to this suffering. Jace also could not help but to wish, just for a split second for all these people that he knew and loved as family and fellow students and teachers, to have never existed, so that he just might be spared his pain.

He cried, and he cried more. The rain battered his clothing and skin, but he had not a care. What was hurting him the most was that he was not there to try and stop it. Could he have stopped it? Probably not; if the entire academy fell, his presence may have just added one more casualty. But Jace still felt absolutely horrible, and sickened by it. These bodies were all dead, dead as if they had been dead for a century.

"Get out of the rain Jace; you might catch a cold," a voice suddenly said. Jace looked up to see a Force ghost standing right in front of him. Jace was still drenched in tears, but he laid Quatra back down to give the ghost his attention.

"Who are you?" Jace asked. "And…" Jace sniffled a bit. "Do you know what happened here?"

"You're not even going to ask me how I know your name?" the ghost asked.

"Do you know what happened here or not!" repeated Jace with a serious tone of irritation.

"Sarcasm in a Padawan on the verge of knighthood is to be expected, but do not bark orders at a Jedi Master," said the man. "And please, honor my wishes. Go into the bunker. We'll talk more in there."

Jace did not know what else to do but follow the ghost of the man. He didn't even know his name, but he was dressed in light colored robes and he had the look of a veteran who had a wealth of knowledge in the form of experience. He opened the floor, got in, and closed it, figuring the Force ghost would be in there waiting for him.

The bunker Quatra had built was mainly a shelter for the supplies that were too large for the tents to shelter and could not afford to get wet. Ship parts, tools, firewood, spare food, and dozens of other object were all kept in here. It was a large establishment, and also a place to hide under emergencies, but none had ever come up. Clearly this attack hit the whole camp by surprise before they could move everyone in.

And Jace was right. The ghost was indeed waiting for him. "What now?" he asked with an air of caution.

"Listen to me very carefully," said the Master. "You do not know me, for we have never met, but I know you mainly because I am dead and as a Force ghost, I am doing what I can to save your life as well as all others I can save before I am gone forever."

"Yeah my master told me about Force ghosts. You're dead in physical form, but your spirit is still very strong; not potent enough to be revived, but strong enough to communicate with the living. Never thought I'd see one... shows what I know."

"Your master taught you well," replied the Jedi Master. "Now listen to me very carefully Jace Myrther. My name is Lucien Draay. About a week ago, I was assassinated by a Sith Lord named Darth Sion. Your camp was hit by his partner; one by the name of Darth Nihilus."

"Yeah, some dark robed guy in a mask," Jace said, still trying to keep himself from further crying. "I had this vision of it and I needed to…"

"I know what happened to you Jace," said Lucien. "And you should be thankful that the Force showed you this. Had you arrived at the camp in your speeder at the expected time, you would have been killed as well."

"Was my crash your doing?" Jace asked. "Did you put that dream into my head to slow me down?"

"I'm dead," Lucien reminded him. "I'm not capable of that kind of Force manipulation in metaphysical form. What I can do is tell you what you're up against."

"What _I'm_ up against?" Jace said. "My teacher and all my friends are dead, killed by some maniac who sucked the life right out of them." Another tear dripped down Jace's face. "Now you show up and... and… What the _hell_ am I supposed to do?"

"Absolutely not," replied Lucien. "In fact, quite the contrary; you need to disappear. You have an advantage. Nihilus thinks he wiped out everyone, yet somehow his senses couldn't find you, perhaps because of your location. I don't know. But you're file is off the book. You have the ability to start over. If you can get Quatra's cargo ship up and running and you remember your training and your survival instincts, you can live; not to fight another day, but just live."

"And what?" replied Jace in anger. "Be a bum? I'm a Padawan, now quite without a chance of becoming a Jedi Knight! I don't have anything else! What else is there? Sleeping in street corners and eating what rich people like you probably threw away? They have a name for that; it's called a bum."

"You can be a man!" replied Lucien in a matching tone. "What's the matter with you! You're emotional right now; I completely understand. I lost my family right before I died, and in an equally horrific way. Their heads were ripped from their torsos and the man who killed me was juggling all five of them in the air when I met him."

"Couldn't you have just told me this later?" Jace asked, quieting his tone a bit, thinking once again of his fallen friends. "

"I don't have that time Jace," Lucien said softly. "You were close by. Force ghosts never last too long. If I ever come back, it won't be in a manner by which I can talk to you. Like it or not, you are going to have to listen to me _now!_"

Jace sighed. "Master Draay…it just isn't fair. You don't have a lot of time, but please. I just need someone to listen to _me_ right now. I don't want to be alone. I did an errand for Quatra. Before that I was training under her and it was just another day. I'm so close…so close to becoming a Jedi Knight. The council is useless because they don't give trials to anyone. Since the end of the civil war they're too busy to think about anything else. And if I showed my face to them, they'd probably think I killed everyone…those damn cynics. Quatra told me that she isolated all of us over here because she didn't trust any of them.

"She was planning a trial of courage and skill for me to happen next week. _Next fucking week! _And now she's dead! And I couldn't save her! I couldn't save any of them! I come back from an errand that I walked for twenty kilometers all night long from, to find them all lifeless. And you telling me the story of your death…that doesn't make me feel any better. It just makes me feel worse because I know that this kind of suffering is happening in other worlds, making this galaxy an even more selfish and evil place than it already was. It's just not right!"

"You are correct," said Lucien soothingly. "It isn't fair or right. None of this is. I am truly sorry for your loss. And your master was full of wisdom and great lessons. You absolutely are worthy of Jedi Knight, and the fact that you know and understand how useless the Jedi Council truly is in this matter is all the more proof of your worthiness. And I know this because I was once on the council. But let me tell you something Jace. You cannot go back to them now. Now that you have witnessed in the worst possible way, the threat the Jedi face, you must understand that you cannot possibly combat it…not on your own…and not with company either. The Jedi are being hunted by the Sith; these new Sith that strike from the shadows and then fall like lightning bolts."

"I have to fight them!" Jace replied. "It's what my master would have wanted. She would have wanted me to rid this galaxy of evil; not out of vengeance, but out of righteousness!"

"Then you will die," Lucien said. "You are not listening to me. This is not a threat you can effectively combat. The Sith have structured themselves in a new way, hoping that someone like you will attempt to engage them, thereby finding you and replying your call with a knife in your back."

"I can't be a wanderer," Jace said. "I won't be. Even if I can't fight them, I still have my life…and though I find myself hardly able to talk anymore, I will not throw it away."

"I am not asking you to," said Lucien. "In case you didn't notice, I'm trying to save your life here. Against this threat, you have a better chance of surviving as a civilian rather than a Jedi Padawan. That doesn't mean you have to drop to the bottom of society."

"I can't do that," said Jace. "I'm sorry master, but I just can't. I may take your advice not to fight this threat, but I will not leave the Jedi behind."

"Then you will die," Lucien replied. "It is that simple."

"Then tell me something," Jace retorted. "I may be in a position to think a bit more clearly right now, though I will definitely need more time to think... to sort it all out. Why are you doing this? What are you trying to give me here; an opportunity for redemption or something of it? What's your motive?"

"No redemption," said Lucien. "Redemption implies sin, and whatever wrongs you believe you may have done to these folks, I am sure you found your redemption and they found their forgiveness a long time ago."

"You're drifting," Jace replied, before Lucien could say anymore.

Lucien paused for a moment and then smiled. "Jace, you are good. My motives are conflicted by a dual philosophy I have been adhering to in the latter years of my life. On the one hand, I believe that the Jedi Order is dying a slow and painful death, and that these new Sith are not the cause, but merely a factor in its inevitable demise. But on the other hand, I have always believed in at least some form of preventive action. I based my early career on trying to stop the Sith for good, believing that any evil committed in stopping this greater evil would be justified. After a fight I had with an old friend, turned Sith Lord, I began to understand the implications of my actions, how they affected my own life far more than they had affected the galaxy.

"Jace, I am not trying to push you towards becoming a bum or anything like that. The reason I do not want you to return to the Order or the Republic and enlist their help against this threat you just witnessed is because I am fully assured that it will be both useless, but also dangerous, leading to their quicker demise. I fought the other branch of this threat right before I died, and I pushed that entity to its absolute limits before the final stroke fell. I understand full well what these new Sith are capable of and I know what I'm talking about. They will kill you, and they will kill all of the Jedi. Even the most powerful of the masters will fall by their hands sooner or later. It is inevitable, and so we cannot prevent the inevitable. We can only prolong the inevitable in order to learn and understand how to make a difference in something that we actually _can_ make a difference in. That's the healthy balance of two seemingly radical philosophies.

"Your life is far from over Jace Myrther. You are young, and though you grieve over the loss of those who cared for you, you must understand that what your master would really want would be for you to find meaning and purpose in your life in order to make the kind of difference you would want to make. That is what a Jedi does. By understanding this, and applying it to your life, you may become more of a Jedi than any Knight could ever dream of. But you must also understand that these titles and ranks mean as much to a real Jedi as the random impulsive actions of a mentally unstable individual."

"You're going cryptic again Master Draay," interrupted Jace, his air of impatience now no longer subtle. "Now please, so I can go, just answer my question. What…is you motive?"

"My motive is to tell you not to react the way you would most likely react under these circumstances. My motive is to get you to understand what you are actually up against so you can make your own informed decision. I'm not doing this to save a Jedi from getting killed. I'm doing this to save an innocent kid from doing something foolish.

"I'm not here for long. But I will leave you with this. There is a reason you are not dead like everyone else. Perhaps if you leave this place and do what you can to survive against this threat, you might just find out what that reason is. Then maybe…just maybe you will understand your purpose, and the Force's purpose. Goodbye Jace Myrther…and May the Force be with you."

And with that, Lucien was gone. His ghost vanished, and Jace plopped down into the corner, back to his emotional state, this time made worse with a headache.

* * *

_Six hours later…_

Revan had just finished putting on his socks when Dustil pulled the _Ebon Hawk_ out of hyperspace in the Spyroc System. He tied his shoes tightly and strapped his weapons to his belt, carefully making sure to leave his lightsaber behind, just as he had instructed the rest of the crew.

This was the first job Gunthamore had put him on, and it had went by flawlessly. Gunthamore had set them up with a wealthy client, a man by the name of Ardao, short on resources on his own world, trying nobly to cure a bone marrow infection that had been killing off a fair amount of that world's population. Revan's task was to infiltrate the black market compound on Ursayam, steal the supplies, and deliver them, for a nice big sum of money.

The crew performed their tasks no matter how mundane with enthusiasm and excitement, especially for the opportunity of adapting. That seemed to be the hardest thing – to go onto a planet they had never been on before without their carrying their usual arsenal of weapons. The blasters of the uncivilized and cortosis vibroblades were the only way they could blend in, and so it was a shift, especially in their attitudes and their tactics.

The _Ebon Hawk_ landed in the normal landing pad with the riots of civilization there to greet them. Revan, Lena, and HK-47 began lugging the crates, but the client was already there with his meager security force trying to hold the crowds back, so that he could properly organize the supplies. When the crates of the goods were off the ship and the ramp closed, the whole crew was given a complementary dinner.

"You've made quite a difference in these people's lives," said Ardao. "I'll be sure not to take the credit for your actions."

"We go where the work takes us," said Revan in somewhat of a serious tone. "We consider appreciation an added bonus to the financial salary, and we are wont to return the favor, aren't we Arren?"

"Yes," said Lena after a big swallow. "This is an excellent dinner, thank you."

"My pleasure," said Ardao. "But I thought that I could also use this as an opportunity to discuss another business matter with you."

"Our business contract goes through Gunthamore," said Revan. "I'd be happy to hear you out, but he'd have to give the approval."

"Already taken care of," replied Ardao. "When I told him what I had in mind, he gave the go-ahead and told me to tell you in advance that he gave the go-ahead so that you could get excited for another job."

"Well I'm certainly pumped," said Dustil. "How about you Captain?"

"I am indeed," said Revan. "Let's hear it."

"It's a bit less mundane than the last task," said Ardao. "But it is important nonetheless. No travelling is required; the job will take place right here in another district off in the distance. There is an individual in the town of Canti by the name of Sacre Frinch. The man is a monster. He lives and headquarters his monopoly business on a massive compound and has a private army of 1500 mercs, most of them adequately trained. Essentially, Canti is a big ring town, and the center of it is Frinch's compound. Outside the compound is eight kilometers of nothing, all private land owned by Frinch that he uses to separate himself from the rest of the town. But he used to live in that town. He got to where he is now from a simple life of street crime by stealing and murdering from a number of families and building up his own resources to scare them off."

"What's the industry that he monopolizes?" Lena asked.

"Wool," replied Ardao. "And as you might imagine, winters get quite cold out here, so that commodity could not be more vital. Frinch has killed his way up to the top, taking the lives and businesses of a number of different people, including my brother. I'm part of a corporate alliance with a number of other like minded individuals, generous with all the money we have, too generous to sit on it."

"I didn't even know corporate alliances of the sort existed," said Revan.

"They do," said Ardao. "Pundits and politicians will often make the case that all big business honchos are robber barons and alike, and what's unfortunate is that almost half of them really are. But there are some like me who have little needs; I've been able to put all three of my kids through college and I have enough for my wife and I to retire comfortably. That's all we've ever really needed. But because our company generates so much wealth and even though I've amended the constitution to shorten the CEO profits, I still have more money than I really need. I'd prefer for others who actually need it to have it."

"That's an admirable characteristic," said Revan. "And I must admit that in my history, I've never been very trusting of big corporations for that very reason that others don't; but it's nice to know that they're not all like that."

"But our charity work is relatively useless because of how high Frinch's prices are, and so we have pledged our resources to doing what we can to get rid of Frinch, but Frinch has deliberately made himself a target by appearing crazy. That is why, if I sent in one of my own men to kill him, everyone would know it was me, and Frinch's men would storm my house the next day and kill my family. And I can't ask the government to do it, because Frinch has most of the Senators in his pocket, and the ones who he doesn't have in his pocket aren't powerful or brave enough to stand against him. Every time an investigation is run into his illegal activities, the cops turn up empty and Frinch sues them for a few million bonds. It's sickening."

"How'd he get that powerful?" Lena asked. "Surely there must have been attempts to stop him."

"Despite being a little crazy, Frinch is an economic scholar. He was able to make the completely bullshit case that due to economies of scale on the wool industry, the maximum efficiency of production and distribution was in the form of a monopoly. In terms of production, his product is good, good enough to make wool look like a homogeneous product. But it's not. There are all different types of wool; just like there are a million different types of shrimp. But his product was convincing enough. It's a politician whom you really can't trust, because a lot of them hide their incompetence underneath the suit and tie."

"So you need an outsider to take him out?" Yuthura concluded.

Ardao nodded. "No allegiance, just some crazy stranger with a grievance, that's how it's made to look: the perfect weapon."

"And then you and yours can roll in, seize the monopoly, break it up, increase allocative efficiency, and help the common man," continued Yuthura.

"Good deal right?" Ardao replied.

"Depends on what's in it for us," said Revan.

"I'll triple the salary you got for this last job, and of course another complementary dinner."

Revan turned to Lena, and then Dustil and Yuthura, all of which gave him an approving nod. "You've got a deal," he said. "Point us towards Canti, and we'll take care of the rest."

* * *

_Back on Trogan, six more hours later…_

Jace had just finished loading up all of his personal effects as well as all the resources he could possibly load up on board Quatra's cargo ship, which was enough food and supplies to last for a month. His computer, that he built with his own two hands was standing right beside him in the cockpit of the ship, and the out through the windows, Jace could once again see the pyres of his master and fellow students he had respectfully begun to cremate. He was not ready to take off just yet, for he still had to input Quatra's codes to unlock the security system, for which he could reprogram them for his own purposes. But also, the bodies of his loved ones were still burning and Jace could not in good conscience start another wildfire.

He stepped out of his ship and moved towards the bonfire again. In spite of it burning for the last few hours, Jace had been relentlessly packing and salvaging the entire camp for anything he might need. After wiping away the tears over five hours ago, Jace was still emotional, but the heavy work kept him from thinking about it. He had come to only one decision from the previous conversation with the ghost of Lucien Draay.

Jace would not return to the Order or the Republic. Jace decided that with a cargo ship like Quatra's, a large ship but still easily flyable by one person provided they understand basic mechanical engineering and advanced computer engineering, skills which Jace had both of. It would be by far the safest if he could perhaps make or find a career in this galaxy by staying in space, and constantly on the move, a maverick; one whose mind could not be read and whose actions could not be predictable. And this may have been Jace's greatest skill. He was both a deceiver, and a reader. In spite of all of his physical fitness and skills in things dead to the Force, Jace was a master at understanding the human mind. Despite all the words and emotions he seemed to say and scream out loud, in public, he was the silent type, always observing and only speaking unless either spoken to or if he had something dire to say. In private, a one on one conversation with someone else, he was more or less an open book. Jace figured these skills would come in handy for a life like the one he was about to attempt to reach for. It would be exciting, it could be fulfilling, and best of all, he would be safe from the grasp of the Sith; an iron hand that could very well reach for him had he decided to do something different.

Jace looked into the fire and saw that almost all of the bodies were now crumpled into ash. More tears filled his face as he began to say a few words, his head bowed low to all of them. "And so I bid thee a farewell…you all were my life…my friends…my family…and though I was a man of so few words, I want you all to know how much you all meant to me. I hope that as your spirits pass onward, you will forgive me for all of my imperfections. And you especially, Master Quatra; you found me when I was four, and you have been like a mother to me since. All my life, I have worked and persisted in all my efforts to please you and earn your approval. It has been an honor, and I promise you, right now, I will never forget you or the lessons of life and of the Force that I learned from you, and I will survive. I will leave this galaxy a better place than it was when I entered it." Jace paused and raised his head. "Goodbye, and May the Force be with you."

Jace doused the fire with a massive batch of water, stowed by a tarp that was still standing tall and stretched long and wide over the wooden outdoor picnic tables. He gathered the ashes into a large pile and then shoved them all into a large urn. He took the urn aboard the ship and then proceeded to unlock the codes.

With the security system unlocked, the engines began to slowly rev up; only a matter of minutes

before the ship would be ready for takeoff, and with a tank full of fuel as well as a reserve supply in the cargo hold, Jace could not help but to feel a bit nervous, being forced to leave his old life behind so quickly. It had only been hours, and yet somehow Jace wondered if perhaps he was perhaps making the transition too quickly. But there was no other option; waiting around for a few days thinking the same remedial thoughts and coming up empty handed, under the illusion that he could fight the monsters that did this to him. Jace checked his computer to observe likely weather conditions for the next few minutes…

But all of a sudden the engines began to die down and Jace was locked out of his security system. "_What the hell?_" he thought as he attempted to reenter the unlock codes, only to come up empty. On the display screen it showed "LANDLOCK". Someone else was nearby who did not want him to leave.

Jace ensured that his ramp was closed and the ship was inaccessible by anything short of a breaching explosive. Then he began fiddling with his computer, attempting to quickly open up and modify some of his older security algorithms, trying to disable the lock. Meanwhile, three Republic gunships and one main landing craft flew over his head. The landing craft landed in a large open area about half a click from the camp, but the gunships remained in the air, patrolling the area.

"You, in the cargo ship!" yelled a Republic officer through a megaphone. "The ship has been landlocked. Come out unarmed and cooperate. We have questions that need answers."

Jace made no response through the communication, but continued hacking away at the computer. One of his programs was already running, hoping to find the source of the lock so to breach its firewall and disable it. It was taking a little time, time that Jace didn't have.

"_No way…_" thought Jace. "_They can't be trusted either, and the last thing I need is to be bogged down by their red tape and interrogation tactics._"

"I repeat!" yelled the officer. "Come out peacefully and we won't have to come into your ship and drag you out!"

"_Fat chance!_" thought Jace again. The program was almost complete in its scan, and it was beginning to look like he was going to turn up empty…

But suddenly the code seemed to be executed in its following steps. This was it; the land lock had come from the Republic cruiser orbiting the planet near Jace's location. The source had been found, but the program couldn't breach the firewall. He needed to fetch another one or type up something fast. The foot mobiles were nearing his position.

"Come on…" Jace said out loud as he tried running three different algorithms at once. "Kill that landlock…or at least find me a way in!"

By this time, soldiers were now knocking on the ramp and getting ready to set up a breaching entry. Jace closed his eyes and reached out with the Force, hurdling projectiles at the soldiers, not to harm them, but merely to slow them down.

"LANDLOCK DISABLED. FULL CONTROL ACQUIRED." The dashboard suddenly displayed this, and the engines revved up automatically again, fully primed and ready to launch. And Jace didn't waste a second of it. He lifted the ship a meter off the ground, inciting the troops to fire upon him, but he blasted up into the skies almost immediately, causing a shockwave that sent knocked the other men over.

"Yes!" Jace yelled in victory. "Yes!" He brought his computer back into full sync with the ship and breached the atmosphere.

"Alpha One to Air Control!" yelled the leader of the troops from the ground. "Target is in space and moving fast, headed your way. You should have it on radar!"

"That is affirmative," said an officer through the communicator. "Moving in to intercept..."

Jace didn't hear this, but he saw it. A large Republic cruiser was headed fast right in his direction, and they were looking for him. Luckily he had scrambled the ID of the ship in the code, as well as deeply hidden the files of Master Quatra's ownership beneath his computer, so the Republic had no idea who they were dealing with. That was most likely why they were approaching him with caution and hostility, treating him as an unknown.

But it didn't matter anymore. Jace was leaving, and nothing was going to stop him. Even if that meant a blind jump into hyperspace, the Republic couldn't catch him. If they caught him, he would be interrogated, and he would tell them about the Sith, and that would make him a new target, and even the Republic couldn't protect him. He would be dragged back into the Jedi Order, and that would also make him a target. The only way to truly remain safe and hidden was to avoid the Republic as well. This wasn't good; quite the worst possible situation Jace ever thought he could find himself in; an innocent fugitive who only wants to save his own ass.

The Republic ship was closing fast. Jace had to think again. "_Damn it…_" he thought, for the first thing that came to mind was the most insane solution, but one that he knew would work. "_Blind jump…_" was the thought. But there was no time to argue with himself. The Republic vessel was hot in his tail, most likely able to come into range of its tractor beam within thirty seconds.

Jace flipped open the hyperdrive controls and steered the ship hard to the left in an effort to outmaneuver the ship. It didn't work, and it didn't even buy him any time, but the hyperdrive responded faster than Jace had thought, for he had never actually gotten the chance to test out the commands before this. Jace was now approximately facing towards West South West, and as he saw the tractor beam on the Republic ship power up, he pulled the lever back and watched in amazement as the stars in front faded into starlines, turning the black of space into a blue vortex.

And in a flash…Jace Myrther was gone.

"_Damn it!_" yelled the Captain. "He's our only lead. He must know what happened. Whatever it takes. _TRACK HIM DOWN!_ You two, come with me!"

* * *

_We hope that you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	27. Chapter 26: More Trouble At Home

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy**

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* * *

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**Chapter 26**

**More Trouble At Home**

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* * *

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It was twenty minutes before noon the next day and Carth had just been given an emergency call from Intelligence headquarters. Stepping into the building, the intelligence officer came to greet him. After an exchange of salutes, they began walking towards the main headquarters.

"Commodore Onasi, we've just intercepted a flurry of communication happening on thirty different interplanetary channels from a large number of outposts, all of them in the mid and outer rim territories. Every single one activated a temporary emergency beacon and called for backup, and then recanted that message an hour later."

"What happened?" Carth asked.

"A series of ground attacks all of them aimed at some of our scattered stations and outposts all over. The outposts more open to the public were attacked by commandos dressed as civilians, who opened fire on some of our men as well as our civilians. Some of the other ones sent out similar reports of attacks, except the attackers were Sith dressed in full armor clad uniform."

"Give me the specifics," said Carth. "Do you have a list of the targets?"

"Right here sir," said the Lieutenant.

Carth took a quick glance over the list. Nearly forty Republic military areas had just been hit by a small wave of Sith forces, all of them in roughly the same time span over the past twenty four hours, and none of them even close to the Core Worlds. They stopped and stood in the main room with the computers and the men working on them. "Hit and fade missions," Carth commented.

"That's what it looks like sir," replied the Lieutenant. "Casualty projections are estimated to be at least a hundred overall."

"Did we take any Sith prisoners?" asked Carth.

The officer shook his head. "No sir, no reports of us taking POW's."

"Was there any kind of warning or evidence that hinted an attack like this?"

The Lieutenant shook his head again. "The distress signals started around last night, but the Sith never took any of our posts. Not all of them were even outposts. Just random targets; some kind of elaborate distraction perhaps…but these waves of attacks may not necessarily be over. Iridonia, Ansion, Ord Radama, Trandosha, Trogan, Lannik, Toydaria, Kothlis, Klatooine, Dubrillion, the list goes on and on; most of these planets are west of the core, but not all."

"Sir!" yelled one of the men at the terminals. "Another report coming in; this time at Bastion!"

"Alert Commander Hop and give him the specifics! He'll know what to do." replied the Lieutenant. Carth smiled at the officer's decisive action, for he himself was about to say the same thing.

"Is Telos a plausible target?" asked Carth.

The Lieutenant hesitated for a moment, but then answered. "It is possible sir, but we've been monitoring our own skies very carefully. Nothing we didn't want through has gotten past us so far."

"So far Lieutenant," said Carth. "It's our job to keep it that way. Have you transmitted this report to Commander Zhan yet?"

"Yes sir, just before you got here. He's on his way to Dubrillion right now, responding to the latest hit, that we haven't heard back from yet."

"Tell him to stay frosty," said Carth. "Tell him I want him to do what he can to try and take Sith officers prisoner for interrogation."

"Yes sir," said the Lieutenant. "Should I tell him to retransmit the report to the 7th fleet?"

"He'll have done it already by now," said Carth. "But I'm sure it wouldn't hurt. Is the 7th fleet still standing by over Mon Calamari?" The officer nodded again. "Good work Lieutenant. Tell your men to dig deeper into the networks. This is an elaborate distraction; we need to find out their main target. I'm late for a lunch meeting I have now, so I can't stay here. Keep me posted Lieutenant. If another major situation builds up, I want to know about it; but keep it together for now."

"Yes sir," he replied. With a final exchange of salutes, Carth left the headquarters. Just as he arrived on the monorail, his communicator went off. "_Perfect timing_," he thought. "Yes?" he answered.

"Carth, it is Juhani. We're at the Seafood Bar in the Entertainment Promenade. The place is packed but we managed to get a table for three. Where are you?"

"I'm on my way," replied Carth. "Sit tight."

"Sounds good," replied Juhani. "We will hold the table for you. Over and out…"

"He's probably on the monorail," said Bastila. "So tell me more about this disturbance."

"I do not understand it," said Juhani. "I am seriously getting tired of these stupid little migraines and ambient noises I have been experiencing so often as of recent. I sense that someone close to me is in imminent danger, but my attempts to meditate on it have been in vain. I feel like this sort of thing is happening everywhere."

"I felt something like that too," said Bastila. "Could this be another addition to the pattern?"

* * *

_Back on Coruscant…_

"Have you received any word from Atris thus far?" Zhar asked Vandar.

Vandar shook his head. "I have tried contacting her again. She has gone dark."

"This is very unlike her," said Vash in a somewhat concerned tone of voice. "Think she found something in Draay's estate?"

"She found Draay's body," said Vandar. "He was murdered."

"Did she specify how?" Vrook asked.

"Atris said that there were signs of a struggle, multiple blood stains in different places, which likely meant multiple opponents. His head was severed from his body. That is what she told me."

Zhar clasped his head into his hands. "What are we thinking here? This could mean anything."

"Atris did not have any suggestion, but if I were to guess, I would guess the Sith," said Vandar.

"Come on…" said Dorak, rolling his eyes. "We've had this discussion before. If the Sith were not eradicated to the lightest wisp of strength after the Star Forge, then what kind of victory did we really achieve there?"

"We destroyed their leadership, the source of their strength, and over half the strength that they already had," said Vash. "But that does not mean the Sith are dead. But to recover so quickly to enough strength to kill Jedi like Belaya and Draay? Highly unlikely…"

"I agree," said Zhar. "To carry out something like that, the Sith would need a cunning leader who knows our ways as much as we do, and the only candidate I can think of for that…is Revan."

"I would not put it past him," said Vrook. "But we have no evidence to support the claim…as much as I would believe it to be true, we cannot rush to judgment based on nothing."

"Well what then?" asked Dorak. "Mercenaries, bounty hunters, Mandalorians, private assassins…we have endless possibilities and no leads. But I think we can definitely say that the Sith are out of power…and unlikely to possess any kind of threat to us for a long time."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"It was just something I have not felt in a long time," replied Juhani. "I think the Republic is under attack. If it is, Carth will probably know something about it."

Bastila was no longer looking at Juhani. Her eyes peered off towards the entrance to the club, which was the size of a massive dining hall. Seafood appeared to be very popular on Citadel Station.

"What is the matter?" Juhani asked. Bastila made no response, still staring off in a distance, and so Juhani asked again. "What is the matter?"

Bastila looked back at her quickly. "See that man in the black trench coat over there?"

Juhani glanced over to where Bastila was looking. She took a look and then looked back at Bastila. "Yes I see him. What about him?"

"It's too hot for that kind of clothing," said Bastila. "One wouldn't wear something so large unless he was packing something inside."

"A rifle?" Juhani asked. "Is that what you think he is hiding?"

"Maybe," replied Bastila. "I'm going for a closer look."

"But…" started Juhani, but it was too late. Bastila had already left the table and headed slowly in his direction. She buried her head in one hand, but then eyed her direction as well as the man she was approaching.

The man Bastila was moving towards was standing still, merely looking around the room at different spots. A TSF officer walked by him to the rear and then rounded the corner away from the restaurant. It helped that both Bastila and Juhani was dressed in civilian clothes so to not attract unnecessary attention. Bastila's lightsaber was not at all visible. By this time, Bastila was not very far away from the man. "Excuse me handsome," Bastila said to him with a smile and in a somewhat flirtatious tone of voice. "Here on business or just looking for a glimmer..?"

"Back off whore," barked the man in an intimidating accent. "I have no time for seduction games!"

Bastila's face turned to a somber frown. "Oh, that is too bad. Because…" Before the man could blink, Bastila was on him from behind, grabbing the back of his trench coat, and her lightsaber hilt appeared from inside her right sleeve into her right hand. She activated only one blade and held it against his neck. "Drop your weapon! _NOW!_"

The man did as he was told and dropped a blaster rifle down to the floor that was packed inside his trench coat. Bastila quickly glanced at Juhani, who returned merely a nod. "State your business here. And don't lie."

By this time, nearly everyone was staring in their direction. Figuring it was Jedi business, they went promptly back to their food and drinks.

The man made no reply as of yet. But as Bastila moved her blade a hair closer to his throat. "Talk…_NOW!_"

The man gritted his teeth and elbowed Bastila in the ribs with his right arm, and then ducked under the saber. Before Bastila could react, he turned and hit her in the face with a heel palm and knocked her down. He turned back around, picked up his rifle and fired three shots in the air. The civilians began to scream and shout, ducking under the tables, and some others trying to escape the restaurant. Before the man could turn to finish Bastila off, Bastila shoved her lightsaber blade straight into his back. She pulled it out, and he fell to the floor dead. As scanned the room, trying to find Juhani, she instead noticed that Juhani was also no longer at the table, but before she could see her, she noticed nineteen other men spread out in different places around the room all stand up, wearing similar trench coats, and packing weapons inside of them.

One of them took out his radio. "Delta Kilo Charlie, need backup over by..." Juhani had come from behind, reached around the inside of his coat, and plunged the dagger he had been concealed into the side of his neck before he could finish the report. He plopped to the floor over the table.

The commandos divided their group in going for Bastila and Juhani. The whole squad had blaster rifles and daggers concealed in their coats. They ripped their coats off, and attacked. Within moments, a massive brawl had erupted in the Seafood Bar.

Juhani had not yet activated her lightsaber, for she had seven commandos on her already. She intercepted a punch heading her way from the side and she flipped him over her side, crashing him onto a table. She herself towards three men right in front of her, attacking them all before they could draw their weapons. These men were soldiers, but that only meant that they were probably more vulnerable without their heavy weapons. She hit one and then kicked another. But these men were strong and her hits weren't knock outs. Another man came at her from behind, but she back flipped over him, and Force threw a chair at him. The man dodged and came at her again.

Meanwhile, Bastila had managed to back up a little more into the hallway, not enough to lose sight of Juhani, but enough to at least partially bottleneck the men coming her way. They had come at her and almost lined up, as if to kill her by firing squad. They drew their guns and opened fire. Bastila twirled her lightsaber in front of her in rapid speed, deflecting all the shots, successfully redirecting him at one of them. But she couldn't press forward too much, or else they would have her surrounded.

* * *

"We're playing with skepticism again," said Vrook. "Let us not think outside the boundaries of reality. We are Jedi…unless there is something big going on right now that we do not know about, I do not think we are vulnerable to any kind of imminent and consistent threat."

"Threats that come to us come to the Republic first. The Jedi Order is not invincible, but if we remember history, our enemies have never come at us while eluding the Republic. Exar Kun, Ulic Qel-Droma, the Mandalorians, and even Darth Revan…" Lonna Vash took a light breath. "If the Republic was under attack, that might be a point of concern for us; but two Jedi being murdered, especially when we still have no idea by whom yet, is not a threat to the Republic."

"Bastila and Juhani believed this important enough to take to the Republic," said Vandar.

"Yes they did," said Vrook. "Which was something I was actually going to bring up…we ought to be more worried about what some of our own Jedi are doing."

* * *

Juhani body slammed one of the men into another table and then stomped on his face as she dealt with her next attackers. She leapt into the air and dealt a flying double kick to the man in front of her. She used her momentum to her advantage as she roundhouse kicked another in the face, and then with that same leg, hook kicked the man right next to him. Switching motion, she smashed him into the ground with a roundhouse kick from her other leg. Right as she was about to hit the man she had previously kicked, she was tackled by a man behind her. He brought her to the ground and held her steady. Juhani struggled to break free, but the man was too strong. All she could do was split her concentration and with the Force, she pulled all of their assault rifles away from those near her and ripped them to metal pieces.

"Hold on Juhani!" yelled Bastila, who was still deflecting shots. Her attempts at redirecting them failed, but her efforts were cut short when a blaster shot whizzed over her head and nailed one of the commandos firing at her. The other commandos ceased fire for a split second, and Bastila made her move. She leapt over the men with a flip and killed the one farthest on the left. With a swing of her blade, she skimmed the clothing of another, but her activation of the second blade, plunged straight through him. Behind her was a TSF squadron that was now opening fire upon the commandos. By this time, the entire room was free of civilians, all of them moving as fast as they could away from the cafeteria.

"Watch your fire!" yelled Lieutenant Yima to her men. "The Jedi are helping us out!" The commandos had now taken cover and were firing back at them. Bastila was running over to the multiple commandos on Juhani and as the others scattered to take cover, Bastila Force disarmed the knives from the commandos on Juhani and went for the others.

Meanwhile, as the commandos were still trying to restrain Juhani and stay down under fire, a blue lightsaber blade was shot straight through the chest of one of them with a snap-hiss. Juhani swung the blade ferociously with a war cry and killed the other three on her at the same time. Another commando, while still crouching, began to rush her with his dagger, but Juhani kicked herself up, hitting him right in the chest as she did so. Juhani rushed for the opposite corner Bastila was fighting at to deal with two more commandos that were there.

"Lieutenant!" yelled Bastila. "Juhani and I got this! There's a squad of reinforcements possibly on their way here!"

"Not a problem!" replied Yima. "Grenn's already got a squad dealing with them."

"And scan the upper levels for possible sniping units!"

"On it!" replied Yima again. "Squad, on me! We're Oscar Mike!" The TSF left the area to move up the stairs.

The commandos tried escaping Juhani and her lightsaber, but Juhani was too quick. The first who tried to grab a dagger was cut down and Juhani Force pinned the other two against a wall.

Bastila was dealing with the final batch of three men. With their daggers, they charged at her all at the same time, but Bastila fell straight to the floor on her back deliberately as their daggers clashed against each other. As Bastila spun herself around, she twirled her double bladed lightsaber in the air, driving massive flesh wounds into the kneecaps of all three and bringing them down. Before the men could recover and throw their daggers at Bastila, she rolled over one of them, raking her saber right across his face. The roll turned into a recovery, but the other two men were still on the ground. One of them tried to throw his knife at Bastila, but she caught up to him and grabbed the knife by the handle before he could do it. Just like Juhani, she Force pulled them up and pinned them to the wall.

"Bastila!" yelled Juhani. "We have another problem!" Bastila looked over to Juhani, but couldn't see what she was referring to.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The men I have against the wall just killed themselves with cyanide!"

"What!" yelled Bastila. "Are they convulsing?"

"They were right before they died!" replied Juhani. "They must have had them in their mouths already! Check back at yours!"

Bastila turned her head back forward to see, and Juhani was right. Both of the men she had pinned against the wall were choking and convulsing on cyanide pills they had hidden between their teeth. "No! _NO!_" she yelled as she dropped them down and tried to save one of them. But she was too late. "_DAMN IT!_" Bastila yelled.

"One of the men I knocked out is surely still unconscious and incapable of biting down," said Juhani. "We must make sure all who are alive remain that way. Check the bodies."

Bastila immediately sprinted over to the large pile of people Juhani had done away with in the middle of the room. Some of them had already taken their cyanide pills and were long dead from them. Juhani was looking in the same area, and they looked at each other and shook their heads almost sadly.

Unbeknownst to both of them, another one of the commandos who Juhani had previously knocked out was very much conscious and very much intact. Hidden inside another pocket of his trench coat that he had been crawling towards was a grenade launcher. He stood up and took aim, Bastila and Juhani only noticing him now. "_MOVE!_" yelled Bastila as they began to disperse, but before the man could fire, another blaster shot came from the opposite direction and hit him right in the chest. This shot was followed by another rapid series of blaster shots all from the same blaster pistol…Carth's blaster pistol. Carth came in and emptied his entire clip on the man, making sure that as he went down, the grenade launcher was pointed upwards, and not towards anyone. The man fell to the floor, long dead, dropping the weapon to his side.

Carth blew the smoke away from the barrel of his gun. He looked at Bastila and Juhani, who were both staring at him as if he had just done something unspeakable. "What?" he said. "I'm sure you left some of them alive…right?" They shook their heads. "Ah shit…"

"Third level clear!" yelled one of the men to Lieutenant Yima.

"We'll leave the mopping up to you, Jedi!" Yima shouted from upstairs. "The Sith's Alpha Squad is pulling back; we need to cut them off at the docks. Let's go!"

"Commandos _all_ KIA?" asked Carth, walking over to Bastila and Juhani.

"That's affirmative," said Bastila. "Most of them choked on the cyanide they had between their teeth. Otherwise they would have been left alive."

Carth scowled. Bastila expected an even angrier reaction, but Carth kept his cool and stuck with his questions. "This doesn't make any sense. When the hell did the Sith become suicidal? I thought they were short on numbers."

"They still might be short on manpower," said Juhani. "But perhaps they are trying to make so that it does not look that way."

"This attack is not only happening here, is it…" said Bastila to Carth, hoping to get an answer out of him.

As Bastila expected, Carth shook his head. "No, over the past twenty four hours, we've received reports from a handful of different places all west of the core, some close to here; all of them hit and fade missions with commando squads about the size of the ones we just saw."

"So what is the real target then?" Juhani asked. "Telos?"

"They were in the restaurant waiting for us," said Bastila. "They weren't after the civvies; they were looking for Jedi robes."

"And the other squad?" Juhani asked. "A bit farfetched to think that they knew we would be here, no?"

"The other squad was found at the TSF station, trying to recover intelligence from our security network. They must have found you though there," replied Carth.

"I feel like we should be discussing this away from a room full of bodies," said Bastila. "And I've completely lost my appetite."

The three of them left the mess in the cafeteria and boarded the monorail back to Republic headquarters.

"I'll send a team to clean up the bodies and get ID's on all of them," said Carth. "I guess now we have more to talk about."

"That's it then," said Bastila. "Juhani and I felt a number of disturbances in the Force last night, from all of these attacks. They had a real target; was it us?"

"It must have been," said Juhani. "The real target is always aimed at in the middle or end of the series of attacks, to strike during the confusion aroused."

"I still don't understand this then," said Bastila. "If they were going for us, maybe they figured out that they couldn't isolate us or kill us in our sleep, but is outnumbering us in a restaurant really the best way to do it?"

"It might have been their only plan," said Carth. "There are a lot of loose ends here, but clearly they don't want any of their men taken for prisoner, which means that in spite of the blatant and random attacks, they're keeping their main objective secret. But they aren't so vindictive as to just randomly attack a bunch of targets for the purpose of making a statement."

"If there so many random attacks happening at the same time, it might prevent the council from getting a hint as to what they are really after," said Juhani.

"How did they even know we were coming?" asked Bastila. "Don't tell me they intercepted that transmission too…"

"They very well could have," said Carth. "Hitting so many worlds at the same time in small squads could leave branches of our firewall vulnerable... It's possible."

"Then what is the pattern here?" replied Bastila. "Jolee…Belaya…and then the two of us; I'm not following here."

The three of them paused, as the monorail came to a stop. It wasn't their stop yet, so when the automatic doors closed, the monorail kept on going.

"Wait a minute," said Juhani. "What if it was not just the two of us they were after?" Bastila and Carth gave Juhani a perplexed look. They didn't bother asking, knowing she would continue. "What if they were also after you?" Juhani pointed at Carth.

"Me?" asked Carth. "That's crazy…they must realize how protected I am in this station, putting aside my own skills. I'm in high command of nearly every military operation in this whole sector!"

"That is precisely my point," said Juhani. "They could never hope to isolate you and kill you in your sleep or in your shower. But…if perhaps they came to this station dressed as civilians hoping to set a trap for all three of us, they could easily corner us in a restaurant."

"But how would they have known I was going to meet with you here?" asked Carth. "Hacking the security system?"

"Even if they couldn't spot you on the system," said Bastila. "Technically, they might have thought that in the midst of the distraction they could get to you."

"Or expect your arrival at the restaurant, knowing that you would come to our aid if we were under attack," said Juhani. "Were I not pinned down during the fight, I would have called you."

"Are you seriously suggesting that the Sith are targeting Revan and those close to him?" asked Carth.

"Or perhaps just those relatively close to Revan," answered Juhani.

"No," said Bastila. "The Sith would kill to get their hands on Revan. He defeated Malak and brought them to ruin; if they killed or captured him back, that would be an incredible victory for them."

"But even we don't even know where Revan is," said Carth. "The Unknown Regions is a pretty big place."

* * *

"The Unknown Regions is a pretty big place," said Vash. "Revan told Bastila and Juhani that he was going there; he didn't even come to us. That is a point of concern."

"Especially since the last time he went into the Unknown Regions, he returned as a Sith Lord," said Vrook.

"I'm sorry," said Vandar. "I just can't take this anymore. Two of our own Jedi are dead…both of them murdered by someone. We're trying to rebuild our Order…the last thing we should be doing is deciding who _we_ should trust. If they trust us in our greater wisdom, perhaps we should extend our trust to them…perhaps we should tell them the truth.

"Master Vandar," said Zhar. "I'm not sure I know what you are implying."

"I'm saying, I think we need to be open and honest to our subordinates. No one knows about Draay's death except for us. We need to tell them."

"That is a bad idea," said Vrook. "Lucien was an outcast, and most of the knights have no idea who he is. The last thing we need is for people to dig up his history. There are many dark things to be weary of in his file."

"Not to mention," said Zhar. "Draay is not a member of our Order. Belaya is. We grieve for Draay's death, for we all knew him, but we cannot assume a pattern when an ex-Jedi is killed and a current Jedi is killed."

"Think about what you are saying Master Zhar," said Vandar. "We have no conclusion…we have no leads. It is nice that our subordinates trust in our wisdom, but what use is that trust if our wisdom turns up empty? We are going to need their help."

"Not until we know what we are dealing with," said Vrook. "We can and must handle this ourselves."

"I'm not sure I agree with you," said Vash. "I think Master Vandar has a point. We take responsibility, we do not cast blame. We should be open and honest with the other Jedi. At least they will know that they can trust us, and they would be more willing to bring evidence to us so we can figure out what we are dealing with."

"It is too risky," said Vrook. "The Jedi Order has enough problems. The last thing they need is to be worried about assassinations from threats they do not know. When we know more and when the time is right, we will reveal the truth to them. But let us not take irrational steps like Revan. One baby step at a time…we must figure out what we are dealing with."

"We have more resources to do that than they do," said Dorak. "I'm with Vrook."

"As am I," said Zhar. "Security comes first, and I think the idea that the others can help us figure out this threat…that's the real speculation."

"Fine," said Vandar. "I will cooperate with this…but if the council gets it wrong…_we_ take responsibility and we tell them the truth. If you do not…I will."

"My conscience does not like this either," said Vash. "But I understand your points. Very well…but let's keep all options on the table, no matter how ridiculous they seem at first. We may very well find ourselves surprised by what we find."

* * *

By this point, Bastila finally understood what Juhani was saying it and she understood it perfectly. As odd as it sounded, this could very well be the truth. She began to wonder about Revan, if he was safe. It was unlikely that they had gotten to him, for she would have felt that. Instead she had been feeling a handful of different disturbances, all of them seemingly miscellaneous. Wherever he was he was keeping busy. The last time she felt so much confusion, perpetuated by the Force itself was during her travels with Revan when she was conflicted on her feelings for him. But Jolee, that'd be one party member down. Cornering and killing Bastila, Juhani, and Carth at once would be another three down…and then from that point on it would only be a matter of time before they'd get to Zaalbar and Canderous. Mission was not even a slight point of concern for Bastila. She would see that hunt coming a light year away and disappear from civilization. There was just one problem with this theory: Belaya. But surely Juhani had put at least a little bit of thought into this theory. One doesn't just think of something like this right on the spot. She felt compelled to ask. "If the Sith are after Revan and his close friends," she began.

"Then where does Belaya fit into this? She wasn't exactly a close friend to Revan."

"An outlier," said Juhani as if she saw it coming. "The Sith could perhaps suspect that we would jump quickly to the conclusion after Jolee's death that they could be after all of us. To their credit, we almost did jump to that conclusion. So perhaps they orchestrated Belaya's death to make us think they were after something else, or just sporadically on the hunt killing what they can."

"Which could still be the truth," said Carth. "I mean, Juhani, you're theory has some merit and a fair amount of logic to support it, but no proof."

"By the time we get our proof," retorted Juhani. "We will not want it. Besides…we do not need it. We have our instincts and our intuition. Right Bastila?"

Bastila was once again baffled. Juhani was right. An outlier; that was quite possibly the only explanation for the Sith's actions. The Sith weren't just being secretive and sporadic. They were plotting revenge against those who played the key roles in their downfall. It all suddenly seemed to make sense. Jolee and the Elder Rakata were killed. Then the Sith killed Belaya and framed someone else, knowing that even if someone did figure out that they killed her, they still wouldn't understand the pattern until it was too late to save Bastila, Carth, and Juhani.

"_Right…_Bastila?" repeated Juhani.

Bastila looked back up at her. "Yes, that's right," she said. "The Sith are hunting us; and if we are going to remain alive, we cannot trust anyone but ourselves even if it means being out in the open. The Sith aren't afraid to strike at us anywhere, so we cannot isolate ourselves without being constantly on the move."

"I still don't completely believe it," said Carth. "Just because the Sith never touched me…but maybe they would have tried were they given the chance to."

The three of them got off the monorail again and hustled to Carth's office. During the walk, Bastila's mind was racing with ideas and possibilities. Not to mention, there was no way the council would believe this. Oh, how she could not help but to despise the council, her fury at them rival to that against the Sith. They just wouldn't listen…and she knew they wouldn't. Somehow, she just knew. The council was useless…even Vandar…even Lonna Vash, who she frequently confided in, now seemed like a hopeless case. If they had adhered her warnings, maybe the events of Telos could have been stopped or hindered. If they had focused their minds and meditations upon the Sith's intentions and figured out what the Sith were hunting earlier, maybe they could have avoided those near-death experiences in the cafeteria. "_Damn, those bastards and their conventional wisdom…_" she thought.

"I still have a lot of work to do, and if the military thinks I'm a high value target for the Sith, then they'll bump up the layers of security around me. I'm fairly protected here. I think that for the sake of the rest of the Jedi, it may not necessarily be a good idea to go back to the Order."

"That is ridiculous," said Juhani. "The council can protect us if we explained our findings. I think we can trust them under these circumstances."

"The council needs proof Juhani," reminded Bastila. "No, the Sith are ghosts in this. The only proof the council will have is that the Sith just attacked a bunch of different places in hit and fade missions. That's what they're going to go by."

"What about Vandar?" asked Carth. "Isn't he supposed to be smarter than the rest of them?"

"By a large amount," said Juhani. "In fact, if anything we could place our trust in him."

"You could place your trust in him," said Bastila. "If you could convince Vandar that our story is real, then that means you will be a bit safer on Coruscant in the Jedi Temple, because you'll have a Jedi Master watching your back and covering for you. And he'll be a better substitute to me."

"What?" asked Juhani. "You are not going to come back to the Order with me?"

Bastila shook her head. "I've been drifting further and further away from the council ever since Revan left. That's why I don't enjoy speaking with them anymore. I've been looking for an excuse to get out of there; which is why I didn't hesitate for a moment to come with you to Belaya's house and here. I'll remain a Jedi in the Order; but I can no longer place my trust in the Jedi Council."

"Then trust me," said Juhani. "We have watched each others' backs for a while now, and we can both attest to its effectiveness. Having Vandar on our side may give us the ability to hide in plain sight so to give us a better chance as to finding out where the Sith are and what else they are planning; because revenge is a temporary solution at best."

"I'm not leaving you Juhani," assured Bastila. "I'm just distancing myself from the council. My patience with them is at an end. They're all talk, and no action. They consistently will not hear us out. With the exception of Vandar, they consistently discredit Revan, and for a group of individuals highly trained and skilled in the Jedi Arts, their attempts to perceive this galaxy through the Force and act upon the realities of their perceptions are laughable and pathetic.

"Did they not teach us in our younger years how to let go of our conscious selves and to act upon our instincts? They can't even take their own lessons to heart; they just sit on their high thrones gawking at the rest of us like we're disposable. What are they doing up there? There's no transparency or acuteness in relations anymore. We don't know what in the Force they're doing or thinking, and we're just supposed to blindly trust them and their vaunted wisdom that they always insist is greater than our own? I have had enough of it. I won't leave the Order, and my loyalty remains to the Jedi Code, but I promised Revan that I would survive and pass the teachings of the Jedi on should he not return, and the council is no longer an asset. Not to me."

"Bastila, calm down, will you? You sound like Revan back in his earlier days," said Carth

"I am sorry you feel that way," said Juhani. "I wish you had not bottled up this anger."

Bastila sighed. "I haven't had this anger bottled up," she said softly. "It's just an epiphany I've had as of recent that has me just a little short fused at the moment. I'm sorry."

"Yeah fine," said Carth, wanting to change the subject just a bit. "If I might just ask…when the hell did this happen? A year and a half ago, you would have been kissing the council's feet just to get their attention and their approval so that you could one day be on that exec board. Now you're abandoning the rest of the Jedi Knights _because_ of them? Once again…I can't say I approve."

"What are you planning to do then?" asked Juhani. "Go after Revan?"

"No," said Bastila with a shake of her head. "And I'm not abandoning the Jedi Knights," said Bastila. "They're my friends; and my loyalty lies with them…" Bastila turned to Carth. "And you."

"Me?"

"I'm going to stay here with you," said Bastila. "As your bodyguard and Jedi adviser; that is what I want to do. You're a navy Commodore on the brink of becoming an Admiral. You're going to need me."

"I…" Carth stammered. "I don't know what to say. You really caught me off guard on that one."

Bastila smiled. "Well get your guard back up, or else my job will be tougher than it needs to be."

"You're serious?" he replied, ignoring the mild joke.

Bastila nodded. "You're not going to turn it down are you?"

"Hell no!" exclaimed Carth. "I've just never heard of a Jedi doing that."

"First time for everything…"

"And I am supposed to be the crazy one…" Juhani mused. "Very well."

"Very well what?" Bastila asked. "Don't tell me you're still planning to go back to the council."

"I am," said Juhani in a somewhat irritated tone. "Master Vandar will help, and he will understand. I will not talk of your feelings about them; I will merely tell them that you need time away from Coruscant for self-reflection or some other bullshit story. Either way, I will tell them that you cannot be found."

"And if they find me here?" Bastila asked.

"Then I will warn you in advance," said Juhani. "We must keep in touch."

"How?" asked Bastila. "The Sith keep intercepting our messages!"

"I might have a solution to that," said Carth. "One of my friends in Aratech came up with multiple coded scrambler frequencies by which we can safely communicate without being hacked. It's set up to block all external codes, and I also had him set it up to recognize our voices. I'll have him give them to you before you leave." Carth exhaled lightly as Juhani nodded. "But there's another problem. None of us can reach Mission; we might be able to warn Zaalbar; but also, Canderous has gone dark."

"I thought he retired," said Juhani.

"He probably did," said Carth. "But apparently he also doesn't want to be found."

"Great," said Bastila rolling her eyes. Though they had finally discovered the real threat, aimed at all of them and she had finally expressed her wish to leave the Council and stay with Carth and the Republic, she somehow didn't feel much better. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. So recently had two of her good friends been picked off along with the entire Elder Rakata Tribe. And then their fury became unleashed at all of them and they had just barely survived. Not to mention that grenade launcher that almost gave the Sith a grand victory. Bastila didn't even know what to think now. "Well I guess that's it then," she said. "While I'm here, I'll be Carth's adviser but I will do my best to research and follow this threat from the Republic's angle as best as I can."

"And I will do what I can to attract the Sith in plain sight," said Juhani. "Do not worry; Vandar will see things my way. He has enough wisdom to distinguish him from the rest, and all of us know that."

"Take care Juhani," said Carth, shaking her hand. "And stay in touch. We'll need to rely on one another to stay alive."

"And if the Sith begin to plan something else," added Bastila. "We'll be ready. You're leaving now?"

"After I get something to eat," said Juhani. "I wonder if the Seafood Bar will be open again."

"It's been half an hour," said Carth. "I highly doubt it. But there's a new store, called H1N1…got a really good selection of pork. I wouldn't know, but one of my men made the recommendation."

"Maybe," said Juhani. "I like seafood better though. Bastila, stay safe and take care of Carth."

"You as well," said Bastila. "As Juhani left the room, Bastila could help but think to herself. "_I wonder if they can get to Revan…I hope not…_"

* * *

_The next day…_

Jace woke from a nap, unsure of how long he had been out for. He had been suffering from sleep deprivation from the past two full days, so he simply couldn't help himself. What he did remember that suddenly freaked him out was that he had just made a blind jump into hyperspace and was somehow still alive.

His next thought was to act quickly or else that miracle would end before it began. Luckily, he had gone without the slightest proximity alert for a star or supernova that would have ended his trip real quick. Had he been awake, he probably would have taken the ship out of hyperspace long before now. But Jace could not help but to feel under tremendous pressure, almost from himself. The Republic now does not know of him, but they know what the ship looks like, and they know where it came from. It would be best to fly under the radar and avoid them; but perhaps this was a bit extreme, to blindly jump into hyperspace without even looking at the direction just to get away from them.

"_Here goes nothing. Please let me be near some form of civilization…_" Jace pushed the main lever forward and out dropped the cargo ship out of hyperspace.

Looking at his radar and his instruments, Jace could not help but to be disappointed. The galaxy map that was displayed from his computer was blank to his presence. All the planets in the known galaxy were on that map, and yet the ship, which would normally be marked by a small symbol lookalike, didn't exist on it. "_That can't be right…_" thought Jace.

He began fiddling with his computer and instruments, trying to get a read on his location. Trogan was on the far western side of the known galaxy in the Outer Rim Territories, a fair distance away from the main Republic hubs that were mostly eastward and proximal to the Core. "Computer," he said out loud. "Present direction and distance traveled from Trogan." Immediately on the screen showed the following text: "APPROXIMATELY 27.4 LIGHT YEARS WEST-SOUTH-WEST OF TROGAN"

"_SHIT!_" yelled Jace out loud. He could not help but to begin doing calculations in his head. He knew already that hyperspace travel was actually 100 million times faster than the actual speed of light, which was about 300 kilometers per second. To travel that far in that direction, considering Trogan's location in relation to the core, and to travel west of that, could only mean one thing…

"_I'm in the Unknown Regions!_"

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this nice and lengthy addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

_Please review our story._

_-Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	28. Chapter 27: Warm Welcome

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

**

**Chapter 27**

**Warm Welcome

* * *

**

In the depths of space, a lone cargo ship floated motionlessly. The superconductor shield over the hyperdrive had been fractured and thus had damaged the hyperdrive, thereby bringing the ship abruptly out of hyperspace and rendering it useless. The cargo ship bore the markings of a very small Corellian Class freighter, but with many different modifications that presented a different appearance. Yet it was the same ship that Jace Myrther had left Trogan on, evading the Republic forces, among other things, and now he found himself stranded in space with merely the life support and massive cache of supplies to keep him alive.

As he chewed on a nutrition bar, he thought to himself: "_Yeah…that went well._"

Meanwhile, far off in another system, Revan and Lena gaped their eyes at what they were seeing."What the hell…" whispered Lena to Revan in a shocked tone that Revan could still hear. What they were currently looking at was rattling to both of their nerves, and now their senses; which was another troubling trait best not analyzed till later.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked. Lena nodded.

"We're going to be detected," said Lena. "We need to take them both out right now." She began to draw her vibrosword but Revan grabbed her shoulder before she could get it out from the sheath on her back.

"Not so fast," he whispered.

"Relax…I can do it," she replied.

"It's not that!" Revan countered. "This whole thing just got a lot more complicated. We need to get out of here and rethink this."

"They're right there!" said Lena almost tempted to stop whispering. "We can end this now!"

"No!" said Revan, almost breaking from the whisper dialogue. Revan paused before he could say more. "_Shhh!_" he whispered. "Someone's coming…"

* * *

_Three days earlier…_

Jace had passed beyond the void that so many had feared; somehow, amongst all the bad luck in the galaxy that was handed to him, he was lucky enough to penetrate deep space for thirteen hours in hyperspace and now only to find himself in the one place where not only the Republic could not find him, but no one else in the entire galaxy could find him.

"I'm in the damn Unknown Regions…!" Jace said out loud again. That was why his instrumental reader came up empty and the galaxy map couldn't explain his location. His position was literally off the charts. "What the hell were you thinking Jace!" he yelled to himself. "Keeping this ship in hyperspace for that long! I'm lucky I'm in the damn Unknown Regions, that I passed everything in the blink of an eye…I could have just as easily ended up in Wild Space, and then I'd really be a dead man. Stupid son of a bitch!" Jace was screaming this to himself but he knew that this would do him no good.

Jace hid his panic attack for now and began thinking quickly about how to get himself out of the problem. The radar he had for the ship was clearly inadequate, for it failed to even detect the planet that was directly in front of him, not even a few hundred thousand kilometers away. This was a problem, but with the proper coding sequence from his computer, he could instead generalize the search patterns for the radar so that it could detect any anomaly within the given radius, even if it would show a non-specific result. Once that data could present itself, Jace could create a codex of information about the anomaly that would be saved for the next time that same anomaly was picked up. It was like reformatting the radar to compensate for unfamiliar territory. Oddly enough however, the rest of his instruments were actually able to get a reading on the planet, so they could relay information to him. As he began experimenting with code on his computer with one hand, his other hand steered the ship towards the planet. It took two hours just to get there.

The planet was a vast array of different climates and environments. At the North and South Poles were snowy ice caps, but it seemed that the closer he got to the equator, the more people friendly it got. Three moons orbited the planet from far away distances, all of which were clearly gas giants, but the planet itself was much bigger. This planet was probably the size of Coruscant, but Jace's instruments couldn't detect too much urban sprawl. There was civilization, but it was scattered, yet connected. The planet was quite clean, and the emptiest spots were at the equator level; meaning that whoever lived on this planet probably preferred the cold. A few moderately sized towns actually existed around the North Pole.

In another half hour, Jace was entering the atmosphere of the planet. By the look of everything, it seemed best to lay low and land away from civilization, given that he was in the Unknown Regions. It was almost a relief knowing that some form of civilization existed on the planet, but it would be best to stay back and monitor their activities before actually moving in. Perhaps someone on that planet could help Jace figure out a way to get home, for it was far too dangerous to just blind jump into hyperspace back the way he came. Jace had no intention of staying here. No one he knew had ever come back from the Unknown Regions alive, and Jace hoped to be the first one without any kind of interesting story to tell.

This planet most definitely had civilization on it. The climate conditions were a bit cooler than Jace was used to but at least people lived here. As he got lower, he noticed that the people who lived there were actually human; another fact that he pondered for a bit. How could the Unknown Regions be all that different from the rest of the galaxy if some of the same people lived there? Was he really the first person to make a blind jump into the Unknown Regions and survive? It's not like he could actually tell anyone about it because it was far too risky to try it again going back.

Jace landed underneath a rocky ice cave, safe from bombardment but not safe from radar detection, though he figured that anyone who detected him would probably think it to be a camper. He tapped into his computer to get a reading on the nearest life forms around him. Aside from small white furred critters that seemed to jump about the caves and the trees, not presenting much of a threat to him, there were a few small towns located near his position.

For another hour, Jace rested in his seat, leaned all the way back after eating up. He had gotten some sleep, but he still felt like he needed more.

But he came to full alert when the computer then read something else. A large starship had just come out of hyperspace dangerously close to the planet's atmosphere; most likely a deliberate move to catch someone by surprise. A communication tower near Jace was stationed began sending a transmission, which was so easily vulnerable, it might as well have been a megaphone.

"Your gracious Excellency," said a soft female voice through the transmission. Before hearing anything more, Jace immediately thought: "_What the hell? How can this be the Unknown Regions if they speak like we do?_"

"Save the warm welcome for next time," growled another dangerous voice. "You know why we are here. Hand them over…both of them."

Jace began fiddling with the controls once again, trying to get more information on the incoming ship, but his attempt was in vain. The way this program was written, it could only intercept and decrypt the code that went through the transmissions. All he could do for the most part was eavesdrop.

"You must forgive us great ones," said the woman. "But could you please be more specific? The population of this town is no small number as you surely know."

"Think twice before playing games with the Sith," replied that same dangerous voice. "This fugitive of ours has been the game of our hunt for years; and he has with him a member of our ranks as a hostage. I have tracked him here, so do not attempt to deny his presence. Now cooperate or we will consider it a deliberate act of treason against us and will take action against your town."

"My town?" said the woman. "Forgive me, but I'm just the lady on the other end of the mike."

"Incorrect my dear," replied the voice, this time a more mellow tone but equally terrifying. "You represent the entire town at this moment. In fact…you represent the entire planet of Kraxis right now. And unless you wish to see the part that you care about burn, you will do as I say."

There was a pause in the communication.

"You burn this town, you'll never find your precious soldier," said a man in an equally scary tone, most likely a dark whisper to conceal his real voice. He was now speaking through the communications in the place of the other woman.

"Trek!" yelled the Sith officer. "At last I have you!"

"Not yet!" replied the man in a cool but equally shady whisper. "Come and get me." He cut the transmission, leaving Jace to ponder the ambiguity.

"Trek!" yelled the Sith officer through the communication, even though it was useless. Not only that, but Jace intercepted that as well even though the tower did not receive it. "_TREK!_"

There was another pause in which Jace merely waited, hoping to hear more.

And more did come; but nothing Jace was prepared for.

"To the individual listening in on this transmission…" said the Sith officer. "Take another look at your radar." Jace felt a rush of panic run through his veins. They knew he was listening in, and looking at the radar, now they knew where he was. They were attempting to make contact but only to keep him stranded there long enough to get to him. This was bad…far worse than the fact that he had no plausible help near him.

To make matters worse, the form of communication they had just patched through was through holographic image. Jace had a safeguard to prevent them from seeing his face, though he didn't know if it would actually work. Oddly enough, he could see the figure of the being who was talking to. Through a computerized image, the figure was still quite large, nearly seven feet tall with fairly broad shoulders. The rest of him was a relatively slim, but he was well built. Jace couldn't help but to stare at this monstrosity. It had green skin, somewhat rounded spikes on the neck and back. The body was covered by a blood red robe that went to the floor. "_What the hell is this!_" Jace thought to himself. "_This doesn't look like a Sith…or any creature I've ever seen._" It didn't matter what Jace could think at this point, for now it was a 100% fact that it was _him_ the Sith were talking to and they were coming after him.

"As you can see," continued the officer. "We have triangulated your position. Did you really believe that your inept technologies could infiltrate ours without us knowing?"

Jace made no reply, but acted on raw instinct, firing up the engines and lifting the ship off the ground in a matter of seconds. Several fighters were heading straight for the area, and Jace attempted to lose them by maneuvering underneath the snowy arches to spring up in a different direction but that also didn't work. The fighters were on him, but far enough out of range to not open fire.

Jace increased his speed as he flew up into the atmosphere. He didn't have a plan; panic was gripping him by the throat. He was quite possibly in the worst situation he had ever been in. He could smell his own fear, and it reeked.

Jace entered space and began maneuvering away from the main cruiser to attempt to re-enter the planet from a different route and lose them.

"It will not work," said the Sith officer through the communicator again. "We have a lock on your pulse beacon."

Jace ceased his efforts and headed further into space. As he prepared for another jump, this time straight back to Trogan, coordinates he had already programmed, the ship froze. What Jace did not realize was the in the midst of programming the coordinates, the starship had turned and begun full pursuit. Jace was slammed hard against his seat, all forward movements of the ship brought to an abrupt halt. The tractor beam had grabbed him.

Dropping the shield, Jace put the ship into full power, hoping to break free, but figuring that the efforts would be futile. And they were. The ship seemed to jolt from the beam for a split second, but it seemed luck was simply not on his side at this moment.

"Stop your struggling fool!" said the Sith. "Every second you resist us will result in extra hours of needless pain on your part.

Jace was slowly being reared inward towards the starship. It almost looked like it would take at least twenty minutes. He pulled the flight manual out of the side compartment and began quickly flipping through the pages. Quatra was clearly a skilled pilot, for she had made notes all over the text.

"_Rapid acceleration…c'mon where are you!_" he thought as he kept flipping. At one page, he thought he had found it. But the page might as well have been blank, for half the text had been crossed out by Quatra's pink pen. In the place of it, she had referred to a blank page behind the appendices. Jace quickly flipped to that and it was titled "Backfiring Acceleration Compensator: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!"

Jace speed read the text and he reached the end in just over a minute. Quatra was right…this was a serious gamble but he didn't have another option.

It required an immense amount of multitasking. Jace would have to almost simultaneously reverse-trigger the acceleration compensator, and again increase to full power, which would also require him to bypass the safety cutoffs. But before doing so, he would need to go to the engine room and quickly rewire the balance of power to only one of the multiple thrusters. The book had details on how to do it. Jace could not help but to wonder how Quatra had gained such a vast wealth of knowledge in piloting. This was another thing he wished he could have asked her.

After another five minutes of rewiring, Jace looked and it seemed that he had done it exactly as was described to him. He was now less than ten minutes away from being captured, and he could feel the tractor beam getting stronger. Time was not on his side.

He rushed back to the cockpit, and with a few tweaks of the controls, Jace executed the actions, and produced a massive scream of horribly stressed electronics that forced him to grit his teeth. The ship came to a dead stop in the midst of the hard pull. Without further hesitation, Jace flipped the lever up to the top, giving full power and he yanked the ship out of the tractor. The empowerment of a single thruster had put the ship into a massive spin, rotating outward and almost out of control. Jace was finally free.

"_YES!_" he yelled, but in the midst of his dizziness, Jace pulled the hyperdrive lever back and steadily decreased the power. In a matter of seconds, the ship appeared to be balanced enough again, and the vortex of hyperspace appeared before him before the cruiser could grab him again.

* * *

_Back on the Sith cruiser…_

"Captain, did you see that!" yelled a human subordinate.

"I'm not blind," growled the Sith Captain. "Of course I saw it." The captain was completely cool about it. "Summon Lieutenant Urshe up to the bridge immediately."

"Already here Captain," said the Lieutenant. He saluted, but the Captain ignored it.

"You know what our priority is. We will continue with that priority. I am determined to catch him before the others."

"Yes sir," said the Lieutenant. "What would you have me do about the escaped?"

"Transmit that pulse beacon's location to the other fleets and make it look like an accidental slip. It may redirect them to the wrong location, buying us more time."

"We will not pursue that one ourselves?" the Lieutenant asked.

"No," replied the Captain. "But whether or not they catch him is irrelevant for he is a dead man. If the others catch him, they'll torture him, and then kill him. If they do not, then he is dead anyway."

"How so?" asked Urshe.

The captain smiled. "You didn't figure it out already? Surely you know of the repercussions of backfiring an accelerator compensator. I didn't even need the Force to hear the wail of that engine." Urshe shook his head. "That kind of action frees you from a tractor beam, but you won't remain in hyperspace for more than a couple light years, especially on a ship that small. As of right about this instant, his ship will slow from hyperspace, rattle a bit, and then stop almost completely, for his hyperdrive will be quite severely damaged. He will float in the middle of open space, the only working controls being his steering, but that won't do any good since he won't be able to go anywhere. Whether our friends find him before his life support dies or he runs out of supplies, is completely up to them. Meanwhile, we will continue our pursuit. Dismissed."

* * *

_Three days later…_

The night was young but the skies were pitch black. Frinch's compound located on flat grounds, but spanning a low hill was mostly asleep but still protected by a large armada of armed forces. It had been a few days of planning, but Revan, Lena, and HK-47 were carrying out their plans to infiltrate the compound, kill Frinch quietly, and then blast their way out. It was not going to be easy, but in order for everyone to know that it was an outsider who killed Frinch, they had to stealthily kill him in his own compound. No one else would ever risk attacking the compound or killing him elsewhere without revealing themselves. The rest of the crew was floating in the _Ebon Hawk_ right above the atmosphere providing Intel to them.

Revan had himself and HK-47 hanging by one hand off a little widget on the high side of the wall in the area right past the front gates of Frinch's compound. The front guards had no idea that they had just been slipped past, and thus were on low alert. Revan skillfully landed on the floor making less of a noise than the drop of a pin, while HK-47 made a light clink as he landed and they made their way into the narrow corridor on the right.

After a quick hallway scan, Revan came outside again and hid behind a large stack of crates.

"Alright, I'm in, but I have no idea where I'm going." Revan was whispering into his comm.

"You've got a small convoy headed your way," said Dustil. "Better stay out of sight. Lena's just slipped past the north entrance."

"Copy that," replied Revan. "How many in the convoy?"

"Standby," said Dustil. There was a three second pause. "I count three armored vehicles on a routine patrol. Let them pass…after that you're clear for about a block and a half."

"Copy that," said Revan. "I see them now. Standing by..." Revan waited for the large speeders to pass. The vehicles moved slowly, each of them carrying a mounted gun. "Alright, where am I going?"

"Yuthura and T3 are trying to zero in on his location; but our infrared scan only goes so far. Keep making your way towards the middle; Lena's almost there."

Revan and the talkative assassin droid moved from the crates and burst their way around the hangers and buildings on the compound avoiding detection from the windows or main doors. After a couple blocks, they saw what Dustil was talking about. A group of five men were standing in the middle of the road talking to each other.

"Assessment: Master we will not be able to navigate around these meatbags while remaining undetected, I suggest exploiting the element of surprise." said HK-47 in a hushed voice.

"_Unless…_" Revan almost said this out loud, but the building to his right was made up of very old bricks. Revan Force jumped as quietly as possible, and wedged his fingers into the space between the bricks, ultimately hoisting himself up to the roof. As HK-47 made its way over Revan pulled it up and they continued.

"Commentary: Oh Master; always with the path of least resistance and lower body count, what has this new master been teaching you?"

"Dustil, I'm on the roof of one of the buildings headed towards Lena's location, but I can't see if there are any guards on the other rooftops" ignoring HK-47's remark.

"You should be clear," replied Dustil. "She's stopped right near a large cellar about half a block northeast of the center. There are men moving all around her, so she must be well hidden."

"Thanks," said Revan. He and HK-47 ran the catwalks that spanned the warehouses they were on, somewhat thankful that no guards were present in his area. When they neared the center, he looked over the edge.

The center was a three way junction and there were two separate patrols of men moving past each other right in the middle. What was most peculiar that caught Revan's eye was the fact that Lena wasn't hidden at all. She was sitting on a bench on the side of the road twiddling her thumbs. But Revan knew exactly what she was doing. She was simultaneously mind tricking all of those guards at the same time into not seeing her even though she was sitting in plain sight.

"_What the hell…_" Revan thought. Though Lena found lots of humor in doing things like this, Revan as a student of hers was quite the opposite. He was perfectly capable of doing all of these things just the same, but why she always felt the need to show off even if it was just showing off to herself was baffling.

He hopped down behind her and tapped her shoulder. "If you're done monkeying around…maybe we can move up from mind raping to assassination. I hear it's more fun."

"I sure as hell hope so," said Lena. "This was boring."

"Interjection: Indeed I would also prefer to cease this sneaking around and engage in some unadulterated violence."

"HK I want you to wait outside. Go and find a perch to give us sniper cover if things go south," Revan spoke in a low voice.

"Acknowledgment: Of course master if any of these meatbags try and fire upon you they will find themselves dispatched with maximum efficiency."

Revan nodded to HK-47 as he went through first and Lena followed; making sure to close it behind her.

"Let's go," Revan ordered.

Together, they made their way back up to the rooftops and ran across three more buildings. Several guards were stationed on the roof of the main house, but the three were able to slip back down to hide in the crates beside the building before the guards could see them. Revan was about to poke his head up to look around, but Lena grabbed him and yanked it back down.

"Guards coming this way, our 3:00," she whispered. "We should let them pass."

"Not necessarily," replied Revan in an equally soft whisper. "Now would be an appropriate time for the mind trick."

In the two minutes it took for the four slow walking guards to pass, Revan and Lena had them in their la-la lands, unaware of their presence. When the guards rounded the corner, Revan began crawling and Lena followed.

They crawled their way to the side of the house, avoiding the main lights that shined down. They were in the dark, and they were accessible to a small window, leading to the cellar.

"I still think we should have taken out at least a few of those guards…" said Lena. "More fun…"

"If any of those guards even found a body, the entire base would be alerted to our presence and then it would take a lot of mind tricking to actually get us out of there," replied Revan. "Not to mention…most of these guards are female. Proportionally, females are tougher to mind trick than males…we've just been lucky." Lena nodded as they continued moving quietly.

The cellar was actually the first of three levels below the ground floor; more of a circular pathway, as Revan and Lena soon found out, but one area did lead them down another floor that had a single staircase to the final level of the basement. Before the staircase however, was a hallway similar to the ones they had walked, but on the inner walls, about six inches above the ground was a metal fence in which the activity in the lowest level of the basement could be seen.

The basement was home to a massive collection of wine; but there was also something else. Before Lena could say it, Revan beat her to it. "I sense something…very unusual."

"I feel it too," Lena replied. "Let's see if we can get a visual." They separately peered into the floor of the basement, and saw two figures walking through the areas between the shelves and stacks of wine talking. One of them was Sacre Frinch. The other one was a True Sith.

"What the hell…" whispered Lena to Revan in a shocked tone that Revan could still hear. What they were currently looking at was rattling to both of their nerves, and now their senses; which was another troubling trait best not analyzed till later.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked. Lena nodded.

"We're going to be detected," said Lena. "We need to take them both out right now." She began to draw her vibrosword but Revan grabbed her shoulder before she could get it out from the sheath on her back.

"Not so fast," he whispered.

"Relax…I can do it," she replied.

"It's not that!" Revan countered. "This whole thing just got a lot more complicated. We need to get out of here and rethink this."

"They're right there!" said Lena almost tempted to stop whispering. "We can end this now!"

"No!" said Revan, almost breaking from the whisper dialogue. Revan paused before he could say more. "Shhh!" he whispered. "Someone's coming…"

They moved from their hiding spot and hit the ceiling, stretching their legs to both of the high side of the walls to keep themselves up.

Oddly enough, the person coming was a tall skinny brunette, who looked no more than twenty years old. She slid down the same way Revan and Lena did and then she parked herself in the same place Revan and Lena were in. She began taking out a camera while Revan and Lena watched from above.

"_You have got to be kidding me! Is this woman out of her damn mind!_" Lena said to Revan through the Force.

"_Most likely…_" he replied.

"_Revan, she'll blow our cover; no way she'll be able to snap a picture while a True Sith is in the room._"

"_Alright…mind trick her._"

Lena took a light breath, and then narrowed her eyes towards the girl. Through the Force, she issued a command to her. "_Do NOT take out your camera. Put it back in your bag and leave this compound. We will deal with them._"

The girl froze. She didn't look up, but merely looked down at her gun and then at Frinch, who was still talking to the Sith. As if the thought had come to her on her own mind, she took the camera and stowed it. She didn't even look up to see what happened. The command Lena had issued was so strong, it was like she had just put a thought into her own head. The girl began to move out the way she came.

"_We need to follow her…_" said Revan to Lena through the Force. "_Go to plan B. We'll take care of him after we discover his ties with the Sith. Let's go._"

Lena and Revan hopped down silently and began to pursue the female spy.

As they left back the way they came, Frinch and the Sith were walking up the steps from the wine cellar.

"I know I heard something up here somewhere," said Frinch. "This damn compound has more human rats than it does real ones."

"Indeed. And I can smell the rats," replied the Sith Warrior. "But they have left the building and are now hidden in the streets. You won't find them."

"Are you insinuating that my streets are the equivalent of a sewer system?" replied Frinch cleverly.

"Absolutely not Mr. Frinch," said the Sith with a smirk. "Quite frankly, you might be the only person in this galaxy we Sith have never struggled to attain results from."

"Good business for me," said Frinch. "Not to worry…the security office will pick them up."

* * *

_Somewhere in the Unknown Regions…_

Jace Myrther had a blanket over him, quite immensely depressed with himself that one unfortunate predicament had led to another, and he could not prevent it. He had gone through three nutrition bars, and yet that could not satisfy his hunger. As he chewed on another one, he thought to himself.

"_Yeah…that went well. If Quatra had a dark side, she'd probably be laughing at my misfortune right now._"

Though he was not short on supplies at all, Jace really hoped that someone would find him…even if it was these strange Sith alien creatures that he had discovered. Anything would be better than just to be stranded out in the black. Jace had made himself comfortable on the ship and it was nice to know that no one else was there, but Jace was the kind of person who could not be himself unless others were around.

He was a quick thinker and astute with machines, quite productive on his own, but when there was quite literally nothing he could do, it all seemed rather pointless compared to other skills he might have sacrificed to do these things well. He found himself talking to himself, which was a seldom practice at best. He thought to himself out loud, he talked to himself as if he was talking to himself and then thought perhaps of what the other one might say. Though it may seem crazy, Jace believed that this may very well be the one thing to actually keep him from going crazy; having that kind of mystical chord of memory to learn from, despite how uncomfortable it was for him.

And it was uncomfortable. Jace had always been the quiet type, but only because he was always surrounded by others who did plenty of talking. He only interjected if he felt he had something very important to say, which was a rare occasion. How he acted in the company of others depended very much upon the company he was in. If it was a private audience with his master, he felt freer to talk more about the things that remained on his mind, but otherwise he felt no such need to do any of that because others would simply answer his own questions without even realizing. But now that no one else was here, he had no one to be the silent one with; no one he could really be himself with. He only had himself; and though it was an interesting new experience, it was even more terrifying. Jace wanted out. He wanted not only to get home, but just to be found. Three days of loneliness was beyond torture.

The Force must have presented Jace with a miracle, because all of a sudden, he was found.

Ignoring the warning from his instruments, Jace stared out towards his starboard side, and saw a small fleet of ships come out of hyperspace. These ships were huge; slightly bigger than Republic Capital Ships. They were heavily armored cruisers, narrowest at the short neck between the midsection and the bridge at the very front. The bridge area spanned wide and curved inward. On the outer ends of the ships were massive turbolaser weapons as well as the heaviest of the armor, meant to protect the sides of the mid section, which was an impressive hull in and of itself. Each big wing on the side also had gravity thrusters on the bottom, enabling ships this size to actually land on the surface. The flagship had a unique design than the rest. It was more ovular and its hull was seemingly very weak. However, what it lacked in armor it seemed to vastly make up for in speed, maneuverability and deflector shields. The deflector shields were so powerful; it was actually visible by a thick light blue aura that surrounded the ship. While the ships stopped, the flagship broke from the ranks and quickly began to circle Jace's ship.

Jace waited patiently for them to make first contact. He feared it being the Sith, but did not want to choke on the irony of his thoughts.

"You seem stranded stranger," said a voice to Jace's ship. "If you are in need of assistance, please explain your difficulties."

"_Don't answer immediately…can't sound desperate…_" thought Jace. "_Tell the truth but don't sound panicked. Deep breath…_"

"Can anyone hear me over there? We have the ability to help but we will not do so unless you respond," the same voice said.

Jace paused for another two seconds and then pressed the communicator button. "Yes, I'm here," he said. "And yes, assistance would be nice."

"Explain your troubles then."

"Superconducting shield got a crack in it, short circuited my hyperdrive," replied Jace.

"That's not a natural break down for most normal ships. I'm afraid we don't have the technology to replace that."

"That's okay," said Jace. "But I could use a tow and perhaps a little accommodation?"

There was another pause between the communications in which Jace waited patiently for the response. "Unknown freighter, we have an affirmative to help you out, but what assurances do we have that there isn't a trap waiting for us?"

But Jace was prepared for that question. "Well I'm sure that by now you've scanned my ship and noticed that I'm the only life on board. I'm sure you've also noticed the lack of weapons on _or_ in this ship. As well as the fact that I think I'm being stared down by a small fleet."

"You are," the other replied. "Or at least…we hope others will feel the same way. What's your name?"

"It's Jace." He was caught somewhat unprepared for that question and had no time to think of a fake name. These people seemed okay, but Jace had no idea what to expect.

"Alright Jace," the other replied. "You are speaking to Lieutenant Commander Archie Saww of the KR _Hammer of Judgment_. We have you in our tractor beam and you should be with us momentarily. We look forward to seeing you."

"Likewise," replied Jace. He cut off the communicator and began preparing himself to become a guest.

Part of Jace wanted to think that everything had now worked out in his favor, but another part was once again unsure of himself. He knew that it was much too early to judge the situation from hindsight, but he wondered if there was any better way to play this out; particularly one in which he didn't have to give out his name. In the Unknown Regions, this was quite dangerous, but the name _Archie Saww_ seemed real enough for him to think that it may not have mattered as much. All he could think to do in the slowly collapsing time he had left alone was to think of aliases he could have given himself.

The gates opened up and the first thing Jace felt as he faced was a big blast of cool air hitting him right in the face. It felt good, if only to last for a second until he heard the sound of a cocking blaster pistol. Before he knew it, it was less than a meter away from his head and pointed right at him. The man pointing it was of average height. His hair was a cross between brown and crimson, and he had a bit more scruff on his chin than he probably should have. The surrounding squad of five men all had rifles aimed in his general direction but not directly at his face. Jace sighed as a way of hiding his more than mild anxiety.

Jace wanted to reach for his lightsaber, but his Jedi senses took over and held his hand. There were six guns on him, and once again it seemed that the worst possible stack of cards had been handed to him. He was now in the middle of nowhere particular at the mercy of an entire fleet of people he knew nothing about. Jace wanted to believe that he was going to be okay, but somehow the thought could not remain in his head.

"_Stay calm Jace…_" he thought.

"Yes…" said another voice of a man entering the scene, as if he had heard his thoughts. "Stay calm indeed…Jace." The man entering the scene was a tall dark skinned individual with a buzz cut. Despite handsome face, the man had a fairly large nose and ears, as well as a triad of scars on the left side of his cheek. He had the look of a hardened veteran who meant what he said and did not have a nice sense of humor.

The man looked over to Archie, who still had the pistol aimed a meter away from Jace's teeth. "Saww, you may resume your duties on the bridge. I'll take it from here."

"Yes Commander," said Archie has he moved away.

"Turn around and hug that wall over there," said the man to Jace. "This man here's going to frisk you."

"For what?" Jace asked.

"Contraband, what else?" came the snide reply.

Jace obliged and felt uncomfortable as one of the soldiers patted him down. The soldier pulled from his belt, the lightsaber. "I don't know what this is…otherwise, he's clean."

The soldier gave it to the Commander, who looked closely at it. He felt it until he came across the switch that turned it on. The glowing silver and white blade shot out. The man continued to toy around with it, hearing the low hummed buzz it made as he swung it through the air.

"Interesting tool you have here," he said. "A weapon?" Jace nodded. The Commander went over to Jace, and gently cut the hood from the back of the heavy shirt he had on. Jace scowled with irritation, as the man laughed and switched off the saber. "Nice clean cut…rather elegant weapon you have here."

"Can I have it back now?" said Jace. He was beyond irritation at this moment. The man was essentially torturing him, removing his hood and toying around as if he had never seen a lightsaber before, even though that was a distinct possibility.

"Not just yet," said the Commander who looked all serious again. "Do you know who I am?"

"Not the most hospitable ship captain I've encountered," replied Jace.

"I smell attitude, son," he replied. "You might want to suppress that with a deodorant of humility."

"With all due respect," spat Jace changing tone mid sentence. "What the hell are you doing? Is this how you treat all guests on your ship? No wonder it looks like it came from the dirtiest of grease pits."

The Commander smirked. "You know…it's not polite to insult a man's ship or his fleet. In some places, it's worse than insulting his mother."

"Would you rather I insult her?" said Jace. "I'm sure I can think of plenty."

The Commander gave a non-verbal signal to another soldier. The soldier took the butt of his gun and hit Jace at the back of the head, slamming him into the wall. Without even thinking, Jace Force summoned his lightsaber back to him and ignited it, holding it against the soldier's neck.

"Don't make me have to defend myself," Jace said to the Commander. "I just need some help. Can you or can you not grant it?"

"Sure," replied the Commander. "Here's a clue." He Force summoned Jace's lightsaber back with his left hand and began to Force choke Jace violently with his right. "You are trained to use the Force…" said the Commander. "There is only one faction that teaches such powers from such unbelievable potency.

"Who…are…you?" Jace stammered in the midst of the choke.

"The name is Amicus Trek. Now that we are acquainted, how's about you tell me what the enemy is doing sending you out here?"

Trek loosened his grip on Jace's throat, giving him the freedom to speak, while still controlling him.

"_Release me!_" Jace commanded through the Force.

But Trek only tightened the grip once again. Jace was almost at the point of losing consciousness, but Trek loosened his grip for a second about five seconds later to keep him awake. Jace did not speak when he could. He maintained his silence despite the searing pain of the dark side at his throat. Trek loosened his grip again and Force slammed him to the floor.

Jace landed, gasping and panting for breath. He could not think from the excruciating pain he had just experienced. It was unlike anything he had ever felt, and Quatra had shown him what it was like to be choked, but not for real like this. He might have wondered if this was a bad sign of his skills if it were not for the fact that his mind had practically shut down.

Trek looked at one of the soldiers and pointed to an oxygen mask on the wall. Before Jace knew what hit him, the soldier had pressed the mask to his nose and mouth, causing him to heavily breathe pure oxygen, which deluded his senses even further. It was pure oxygen, but it made him plop to the floor unconscious.

"We'll see how long your silence lasts against my…interrogation. Tear this junked metal barge inside out…if there is a tracking device, I want it found! Haul this collaborator to the brig.

Trek took out his communicator. "_GET THIS FLEET BACK INTO HYPERSPACE BEFORE WE HAVE COMPANY!_"

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight".  
_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	29. Chapter 28: Hospitality

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

Chapter 28  
**

**Hospitality

* * *

**

The night was no longer young, and the skies were pitch black. The stars, which were usually visible were covered by thin clouds high above. Frinch's compound was not on high alert, but some of the guards were somewhat aroused with suspicion that there was an intruder. Nonetheless, they found no evidence of it, for Revan Lena and HK-47 made special efforts not to engage anyone and stay under the strobe lights.

Revan and his mismatched team had exited the compound but had not yet signaled the _Ebon Hawk_ to pick them up. They had turned off their communicators in relentless pursuit of the teenage spy girl they were following out of the compound. Though they had witnessed only the taking of harmless pictures of Frinch, they were still interested in finding out who she was and who she was working for. About a mile outside the compound, the girl stopped.

"Alright, alright!" she said. Revan was right behind her, but crawling on the ground, out of her sight had she turned around. "You can stop following me now…I know someone's back there. Come out please..."

"How did you know we were following you?" asked Revan, as he stood up from the grass. Lena was out of sight but Revan sensed her nearby, so he didn't bother to look back.

"You here to take me back to Frinch?"

"What gives you that idea?" Revan responded.

"The fact that you followed me this far after leaving his compound when you could have gone in virtually any direction, _that's_ what gives me the idea."

"So what's a sweet kid like you doing in the compound of the most dangerous man on the planet?"

"Nothing important…" she said. "Why?"

"I saw you taking pictures of Frinch," said Revan with an air of impatience. "Cut the crap. What's your business on that compound?"

"Umm…" she stammered. "If you _really_ knew what I was doing, you wouldn't be asking that question."

"Look," said Revan. "Let's just say that you weren't the only trespasser on Frinch's compound. Now, if I worked for Frinch, I wouldn't waste time asking you all these questions. I'd probably take you back to him, and he and his lackeys would beat it out of you. But I don't work for Frinch. So why don't you tell me what you were doing there, before I decide that I _do _want to work for him."

"Alright fine, Mr. Rhetorically Impressive Asshole," she replied. "I was taking pictures of him in his wine cellar."

"Threat: You would do well to not address the Master with such impertinence. Perhaps a blaster shot to your kneecap will make you understand…meatbag."

"Uh…" she stammered.

"Ignore my HK," said Revan. "Why were you doing that?"

"Why do you think?" she snarled. "Alcohol is strictly forbidden on this planet; prohibition law by the federal referendum. Now that I have evidence of his illegal smuggling and storage of wine, I can hold it against him and force a bribe."

"That's quite the plan," said Revan. "Especially the plan of a seventeen year old girl; tell me something. Are you terminally ill?"

"What a lovely conversation we're having."

"Do you realize what kind of mess you would be getting yourself into?" Revan asked. "That man could and would kill you so easily. That leverage you have over him is of no use to you if you're dead."

"Observation: Data analysis indicates that Mr. Sacre Frinch is responsible for approximately three hundred assassinations. This is not impressive by my standards, but according to all autopsy reports, none of these dead have had any leverage over him after their assassination. Therefore, the Master is correct…meatbag."

The girl merely stared at HK-47. Their words seemed to have hit her like a brick to the face.

"Why is this droid calling me a meatbag? I'm a vegetarian…"

"Statement: By all classification, you are a being with enough organs and enough water in your system to create a troubling slosh when you move; therefore you are an organic fleshbag, which I have shortened to the phrase 'meatbag' under the request of the Master. Request: Master, may I dispatch this foolish meatbag to save you the trouble of another boring conversation?" Her mouth gaped open.

Revan laughed again. "Stand down HK, I still have some questions. Was this brilliant scheme your own, or did someone talk you into it?"

"Mine of course," she said. "My parents think I'm at a sleepover right now."

"Do you have anyone to cover for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you tell them at whose house you're sleeping over at, and tell the friend to cover for you if your parents call them?"

"No…should I have?"

Revan rolled his eyes and continued staring at the girl. "Seriously…what the hell kind of spy are you? Have you never done this kind of thing before?"

"No, I haven't," said the girl. "But I'm tired of this place; there's no future for me on this planet. I'm not a girl of many decisions, but I want off this world, no matter what it takes."

Revan continued staring. This was beyond anything he initially thought of. He was expecting a much more useful answer, but this was an innocent teenage girl in way over her head.

What was he to do? Many follow up questions were available to him, but for reasons that even he didn't know, he chose this: "So basically what you're telling me is that you…a seemingly normal teenage non-troublemaker girl decided that your first true act of rebellion was to sneak around the compound of the most dangerous man _on the planet_ and find a way to get incriminating evidence on him…all for the sake of you bribing him to get enough money to leave." Revan rolled his eyes. "And here I was initially thinking you were an assassin!"

"Well I'm not," she said.

"Fair enough," said Revan. "Let's say you got those hands on a nice sum of money; what's the next step? Buy a ship? Buy transport?"

"Buy my own ship, of course!" she said, as if the answer was obvious. "I know how to fly."

"Do you now?" said Revan, fairly impressed. "That's a nice skill to have."

"Yeah well…my brother found his own way off the planet, and now he's flying for the KR's. I'm hoping to join him."

"KR's?" Revan asked. "What's that?"

The girl looked highly perplexed. "Are you kidding? You don't know what KR stands for?"

"Let's say I don't…"

"You're serious…and clueless!" she said. "It stands for the..._Kraxis Rebellion_," she leaned forward and whispered. Then she pulled back. "Moron…"

"Kraxis Rebellion?" asked Revan. "Who…"

"_SHHH!_" the girl whispered. "Are _you_ terminally ill? Don't say it out loud!"

Revan furrowed his brow again. "_Kraxis Rebellion?_" he thought. He wondered what that was and if it had anything to do with the True Sith. He had to ask for more.

"What's your name kid?" The girl hesitated. Revan reached out his hand. "Look, I understand you have nothing to gain from telling us this, but I'll make you a deal. If you tell us everything about that, we'll get you off this planet and perhaps we'll even take you to the…KR's."

"Like you're going to find them," she said. "You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you…"

"Fine," said Revan. "We'll get you off this planet and settle you someplace nice where you can go your own way. Suitable?"

The girl thought for a moment. "I…no my parents would kill me for going off with strangers, so I'm going to have to say no."

"That won't be a problem," Revan said with a bit of determination. "I'll make them an offer they can't refuse."

"What kind of offer?" she asked. "They're middle class, so the only language they understand is money."

"Then money is what they'll get," Revan said. "I'm telling you, it won't be a problem. But I want that information."

The girl thought again for a moment. "Look, this may sound strange to you, but I'm actually not much of a troublemaker."

"Well you certainly aren't one for first impressions," said Revan.

"But, a lot of my friends are," she continued. "What I have learned from them is, it behooves oneself to keep their wits. Long story short, this offer sounds way too good to be true."

"Ooh," said Lena, finally standing up and moving. "I like this one. She's smarter than she looks."

"Observation: That makes only one of us…"

"That better not be a dumb brunette joke," said the girl, ignoring the droid's remark. Lena chuckled again.

"You can trust us," Lena said. "I've known this Captain for years, and as you've noticed, he has a way with words."

"Fine," said the girl. "I'm being handed the opportunity of a lifetime; I'm not going to turn it down because of cold feet. If you can successfully bribe my parents into letting me go, I'll tell you everything I know about the KR's."

"Very good," said Revan. "Arren, is everything good to go?"

"Yeah," said Lena. "I've just calibrated the device I planted to transmit the heat signal that'll tell us if Frinch goes back into that basement. We can do it the next time he decides he wants a drink."

"Statement: I still believe it would be far more satisfying to simply blast that meatbag's face into the wall and get it over with. Why would we sit on such a wonderful opportunity?"

"Any chance of it being found?" Revan asked.

"Doubt it…"

"You were planning to kill Frinch?" said the girl. "Wow…maybe I _can_ trust you."

"Well can you trust us enough to tell us your name?" asked Revan.

"My name's Cassandra…" said the girl again with an equal quiver of hesitation.

"Well Cassandra," said Revan. "It is nice to meet you. I'm Jack, this is Arren, and this is HK-47 my loyal assassination droid. If you will come with us to our ship, we will offer you protection in exchange for your information."

"Expletive: Oh Master…please don't tell me we're taking on _another_ meatbag! I don't know if my protocols could handle it!"

"It's not up to me. It's up to her," said Revan.

"Alright," she said. "But no tricks…"

"I assure you, we mean you no harm," replied Revan. "We just weren't expecting you or anyone like you to show up in the middle of all this."

"Yeah, same here," said Cassandra. "But we'll need to stop at my house first."

"No problem," said Revan. "I'll just signal my ship. Dustil?" he called through his communicator.

"Yeah?"

"A little over a klick east of the compound, there's four of us."

"Four! But…we're all here, and I thought you were worried about tight hallways or something…"

"We picked up a stray." Lena chuckled.

"Yeah, long story; we'll explain later," said Revan. "And tell the T3-M4 to make sure the bike is ready."

"Copy that; see you in a few."

Within five minutes, the _Ebon Hawk_ landed at their position. Yuthura was waiting on the ramp. "Who's the guest of honor?" she asked.

"Cassandra Vesta," came the reply. "I'm your new…" She looked over to Revan. "Have any position open on your crew?"

"Temporary Informational Assistant," said Revan. "That's your new job until you disclose to us what you know. For your services, you'll get part of the cut for killing Frinch once we blow up his basement, and we'll set you on your merry way."

"That's quite the mouthful name for a job," said Dustil.

"Yeah, well my parents tell me I have a big mouth, so I'm sure I'll do fine, thanks," she said in a snarky tone of voice.

"Oh great…" replied Dustil in an equally snarky tone. "Another big mouth on the ship; like they couldn't get enough of me." Revan and Lena both chuckled from the comment.

"As entertaining as this may be, we need to be on our way, before Frinch's men get here."

"They're on their way?" replied Cassandra in another slightly worried tone.

"Indeed," said Revan. "Let's go."

Lena jumped into the cockpit and blasted the ship into the air. "Cassandra, where do you live?" she asked.

"A bit to the north," she replied. "There should be a vacant landing pad somewhere, but the toll might be a little heavy."

"We'll handle that," said Revan. "Lena, get some more altitude. Dustil, go get HK-47 again; he's coming with us."

"You're not planning on using his…skills, are you?" Dustil asked, already knowing that Revan had something else in mind. Cassandra gave a very worried look to both of them.

"No," said Revan. "HK also has a talent at carrying lots of suitcases."

"Here's my question," said Yuthura. "Why didn't you just send HK-47 to kill Frinch? It would have been easier than going in there yourselves."

"I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy," said Revan. "But it's a good thing I didn't because if I did, HK might not be alive right now."

"What happened?"

"Another long story," said Revan. "We'll talk later."

As a click of metallic feet were heard HK-47's voice came into earshot "Indignation: Master I'm insulted you think me incapable of terminating _one_ little meatbag! For all the beautifully artistic kills I've preformed for you I..."

"I'm never going to hear the end of that am I?" Revan asked the cockpit console in despair.

"Disclaimer: Indeed…I also possess excellent hearing. Retraction: Oh I'm sorry master, was that a hypothetical question?"

* * *

_Back on Frinch's compound, two hours later…_

A large amount of smashing and clashing sounds came from Frinch's house. There were two guards who were patrolling the perimeter who heard them.

"Should we check to see what's up?"

"Nah, he'll have called if he needed us. He's probably just drunk again."

But the situation inside Frinch's basement was quite different. Frinch was handcuffed to a metal pole, incapable of moving. Meanwhile, the True Sith with him was busy fighting the rest of the heavily armed and armored squadron.

One of the soldiers grabbed a bottle of wine and smashed it over Frinch's head. The wine spilled and soaked Frinch's clothing but the soldier threw the big glass shard he was still holding at the Sith. The Sith merely punched it and it shattered into a million pieces. He then blasted a thin red aura straight at the soldier, but the soldier took cover behind one of the shelves and it whizzed past him.

"How much longer do you swine think you can hold out against me!" yelled the Sith. "You cannot win!"

Two other soldiers made no reply, but came out of cover and began blasting the Sith with their rifles. With its agility, the Sith dodged all the blasts, and the lasers merely knocked over more wine bottles. As he landed, he grabbed the remaining wine bottles on the shelf behind him and hurled them at the soldiers. One of the bottles hit a soldier straight in the face and knocked him out. The Sith ducked another blast and then lifted his hands, in an extraordinarily powerful Force choke to all eight other soldiers in the room. He slowly began to clench his fists more and more, crushing the soldiers' windpipes and slowly dimming their dying squeals.

But suddenly a sharp and twisted dagger came hurling in his direction and it landed straight in his throat. The Sith immediately ceased the choke and the soldiers all collapsed to the floor unconscious.

"Enjoying yourself!" snarled Amicus Trek as he entered the basement. The True Sith gave a smirk and yanked the dagger out of his neck. Despite the loss of blood, he was fine, and now much angrier. But before he could counterattack, Trek was on him.

Trek grabbed the Sith by the lapel with one hand and spun him around, throwing him with the Force backward. The Sith flew backwards and knocked over five shelves in the crash. He kick flipped back up and hurled another red aura straight at Trek. Trek caught it in his hand, and though the Sith exerted more and more energy, trying to break him, Trek merely controlled the energy ball in his hand. Finally, it seeped into Trek as he intended to absorb it, and the Sith stood baffled by Trek's display of power.

"Nice trick," said the Sith. "Got any more?"

"Sure," replied Trek with a devilish smirk. With that, he clasped his hands together, and with the Force, threw every remaining wine bottle into a whirlwind around the Sith. Before the Sith could break free of it, Trek summoned a spark of lightning that hit one of the bottles in the whirlwind. The True Sith was suddenly ignited, along with the area he was standing in into a blaze of fire. The Sith screamed as he tried to jump out and roll on the floor, but Trek Force lifted him in the air and held him there. Five minutes later, the Sith was long dead and burned to a crisp. The rest of the men had been evacuated but Trek and Frinch were still in the basement.

They stood for another few minutes, and neither of them said another word. As the fire drew closer, Trek unlocked the pole and dragged Frinch by the handcuffs up the stairs from the basement with one hand. He then strapped him into a chair and another of his men fastened him in with a short bungee cord.

"Activate the blast doors and seal off the basement," said Trek. "We need this house intact for a little while longer."

"Yes sir," said one of the men who hurried off.

"So Mr. Frinch," began Trek. "You've got quite the reputation in this galaxy. Crime, mob activity, gambits for power, assassinations, economic success, the front page of most search engines will have your name, face, and profile right on it, if any of those terms get looked up."

"I could say the same about you," said Frinch. "Though the words I'd pick for the engine are traitor…terrorist…widower."

Trek slammed his front knuckles on Frinch's cheek bone, almost whip-lashing his head. "I try conducting a pleasant conversation with a man before his demise, and this is how I get treated?"

"I've faced death on a number of occasions. It doesn't scare me."

"But you've never faced me," growled Trek. "And I can give you a more terrifying death than anything you could ever imagine."

"You plan to burn me alive like you did my friend?"

"Ah yes," said Trek. "Your friend…" Trek's expression turned even more frightening. "I can't tell you how many times I've heard Rixxon Zazz speak highly of you. You're the only one he's never had to threaten or intimidate or any of those other fun tactics they use to slither out what they want. Like a tool, you gave, and you gave. And now, look where that's gotten you." Trek moved back a couple of steps. "Your face is a bloody mess, your illegal wine is on fire, and your trust fund has been robbed. Here, take a look."

Another soldier came up with a small datapad to show it to Frinch. Frinch took a quick look at it. "You left a hundred bonds in there."

"Well, I didn't want to take all of it," said Trek rather defensively. "Seriously, what kind of man do you think I am?" Frinch spat blood onto Trek's shoe. Trek countered by hitting him in the face again, on the other side. "Now, small talk complete, onto business. I found this…" Trek pulled from his pocket a small diffused bomb. "It was in your basement, programmed to kill you and burn your wine all the same. I didn't plant the bomb because that's not how I do things. Any ideas?"

Frinch looked at Trek and did not even bother to stare at the bomb. He said nothing.

"You know…you're really trying my patience here," said Trek. "I mean, it is one thing to leave a bloodstain on my shoe. I can polish that off, but given what you have seen, surely you must know that there are less painful and less messy ways to die. See, most people die with the comfort of knowing that they'll be cremated and people will cry over them. But I can make it so that you end up in little pieces…food for the vultures, and no one will miss you. Now I'm going to ask you again; and if you still choose to hold your peace, I'm going to do something really crazy."

Frinch looked at Trek again and still said nothing for few seconds. He shook his head. "Do your worst." Trek grimaced a bit, and then silently summoned one of his men. The soldier he summoned dragged Frinch's wife and two kids, all of them blindfolded, hands bound, and mouths taped. They whimpered and quivered with fear as they entered the room.

"You shouldn't have told me that," said Trek. "You _really_ shouldn't have told me that. You've got one last chance. Just give me a clue."

"You're bluffing," said Frinch in a tone of desperation.

"You don't know me," said Trek. "And I'll prove it. Watch this." Trek pulled out his blaster. "Are you watching?" Frinch was indeed looking at him. "Okay good." Trek pointed his pistol at the oldest son and shot him point blank in the side of the head. The boy's head throbbed as he fell to the floor dead.

"_NO!_" screamed Frinch with his mouth gaped open. "_YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT! LET ME LOOSE! I'LL RIP YOUR DAMN HEAD OFF!_"

Tears were rolling from Frinch's face, and his wife and younger son were also crying behind the blindfold. They knew exactly what had just happened. But they could not scream; nor could they make any coherent sound more than a whimper. They were terrified. Trek had just proved that he was an absolute lunatic and a man with the stomach and resolve to do _anything_.

"I told you that you shouldn't have called my bluff!" Trek sneered. "Now talk; I want to know who else was trying to kill you! It's a simple damn question! _NOW ANSWER IT OR I'LL CUT YOUR YOUNGER SON'S HEAD OFF RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!_"

"Alright, alright!" pleaded Frinch. "I'll talk! Show me the detonator!"

Frinch had just barely managed to get out those words in the midst of his trauma and his mental breakdown that was hidden behind his eyes. A member of his family had just been shot in the head right in front of him. Sacre Frinch was a monster of his own and had seen more than often the bloody results of his exploits, but not once had he ever imagined the perspective of his victims. Now he was, and he didn't know how to handle it. He desperately shook and seized, trying to break free in his chair, but it was of no use. His groans of aggravation seemed to amuse Trek a little bit as he walked back over with the detonator.

Frinch looked at it and then looked at Trek. "This doesn't surprise me…we…we had an intruder in our base earlier; I merely suspected it to be an undercover, but we didn't catch him."

"Security cameras pick them up?" Trek asked.

"I…" stammered Frinch.

"_DID THE SECURITY CAMERAS PICK THEM UP!_" repeated Trek, raising his voice.

"That's what I was looking for before you showed up…and killed my boy!"

"Here! Commander! I think I got it," said one of his soldiers. I have three people leaving the compound; camera picked them up from outside the wall after coming down. We have one girl and then a little ways after her, two other people and a droid. Their faces are hidden but one of them briefly looked back at the camera and I froze it there."

"Refresh the image now," said Trek.

"Already on it sir," said the soldier. "Should be done in…there; have a look."

Trek looked at the new image. It was Lena, looking at the camera for a split second. "A twi'lek…green skin, hazel green eyes. Garrisson, I want you to cross-reference that image to our database; see if any flags come up."

"Yes sir," Garrisson replied.

Trek paced the floor for another ten minutes until Garrisson gave another response. "I think I got a name; same parameters, but it's a relatively new file."

"What's the name?" replied Trek.

"Arren Kae," said Garrisson. "First Lieutenant on a ship called the _Ebon Hawk_. Registered under the employment of the Multi-Contract Airborne…not much else."

"Arren Kae…" repeated Trek. "I'm guessing that's an alias," he said. "Just a guess though. We'll run it through the Sith's database and see if they have a file on her." He turned back to Frinch who was still twitching with rage at what he had done to his boy. "We have a lead now, which means our presence here is no longer necessary."

"Uh Commander?" said another soldier.

"What is it this time Rocha?"

"We've got an armored vehicle approaching. I think someone heard the blaster shot."

"Take that megaphone and tell them we've got a fleet right above them. Garrisson, you signal the _Pincer _to move into position, in case they don't buy it. Judd, you let Archie know that we're almost done here and tell him to get that drop ship to the rendezvous point."

"Yes sir!" they all replied.

"Now," said Trek. "Ah yes!" he exclaimed. "Mr. Frinch, I bid you a fond farewell. May the dark side of the Force have mercy on your soul." Trek aimed his blaster at Frinch's heart and pulled the trigger. The laser went straight through and killed him. Frinch's wife screamed as loudly as she could with the cloth still partially in her mouth and his other son was now crying so much that the blindfold was completely soaked, with more tears seeping through it.

"Sir, they're backing off!" yelled Rocha.

"Good," said Trek. "Tell them that the threat of bombardment still applies until we have safely exited this planet. Judd, kill the wife and the last kid and then meet us right outside. Make it clean; one laser to the head is all you need."

Frinch's wife and his last child whimpered even more and desperately looked around, praying for an exit that they could feel, but their efforts were futile. They were as good as dead, and a part of them knew it, but it was too terrifying to think about. Now it was all they were thinking about.

Trek exited the room and behind him came two single blaster shots within a second of each other, and thus marked the bitter end of the Frinch family.

* * *

_The next day…_

"Are you sure this is absolutely necessary?" said Yuthura. "We could just tell Gunthamore and pass along the message, to save time."

"We owe Ardao an explanation," said Revan. "I didn't say it would be the truth; but just out of courtesy. We can't afford to stain our own reputation in the Unknown Regions this early.

"Revan's right," said Lena. "We've only done a few jobs, and Ardao needs to understand that there are special circumstances that we could not deliver on this job; so he doesn't suspect incompetence." Lena paused. "That being said, what exactly are you planning to say to him?"

"I got a plan," said Revan with confidence. "Ardao isn't an idiot, but fooling him won't be hard. How's our passenger?"

"Unusually quiet," said Lena. "I still think she's taken aback from how easily you persuaded her parents…you sure that was a good idea?"

"No," said Revan. "But it worked, and she wasn't in the room to see me do it, and I doubt we'll see them again. And even if they suspect something, I left a few thousand on their table when they weren't looking."

"We don't even know if her information will be worth anything," said Yuthura. "That sounds like a dangerous investment."

"No," said Revan. "She knows a lot, and getting her to cooperate is easy. It's worth it to me."

The others nodded, once again persuaded by Revan's confidence. Revan was sure himself, though he wasn't sure why he was actually so sure that Cassandra's information would be worth the price. It was just the feeling of anticipated revelation that had always struck him at the right moments. The minute he ran into Darth Malak on the _Leviathan_, Revan knew that Malak had something to say. He would not have come just to personally collect Bastila for her Battle Meditation; but to meet and greet his former master was a rare opportunity that Malak was eager to seize. The same feeling came over him when he was requested an audience with the Jedi Council immediately after escaping Taris.

Revan, Lena, and Yuthura stepped out of the _Ebon Hawk_ to greet Ardao who was standing right in front of the ramp. As Revan stepped out of the ship, Ardao extended both his hands.

"My friends!" he said, his face full of glee. "News has already rung of your success! You have done the impossible, and for that I am forever grateful."

Revan and his companions froze, completely baffled by the greeting. "My…my success?" said Revan trying to sound as unconvincing as possible.

"Of course!" said Ardao. "Frinch lies dead in his own home, and further rumors circulate that you burned down his winery as well. Most excellent my friends! Well done!"

"Why, thank you!" said Revan. "I guess I'm just surprised that the information circulated this quickly…the stuff about the winery especially."

"The business universe has currents of information one couldn't avoid even if he tried," said Ardao.

"But I do have one question," said Revan. "Are you concerned at all about damage control?"

"Not at all," said Ardao. "The bigger the bang, the better the statement, right?"

"I guess so," said Revan with a somewhat fake smile.

"Cheer up!" said Ardao. "You've done me, my colleagues, and the people of Spyroc a great service. Just as before, I will honor my side of the bargain with your pay that is being wired to your account right now; should be complete." He pulled out a datapad. "You can monitor the results."

"Thank you," said Revan. "Arren, why don't you keep your eye on this?"

"With pleasure," said Lena.

"And your dinner is on me of course," said Ardao. "We can sit down now if you'd like."

"Of course," said Revan. "Although, I do have one additional small request…"

"And what would that be?" said Ardao, still smiling.

"We've taken on another passenger, temporarily. She's my niece, her name is Cassandra. Can she join us as well?"

"Why of course!" exclaimed Ardao. "By all means, bring her along!"

"Wonderful," said Revan. "I'll go back and let them know."

Revan stepped back into the _Ebon Hawk_ and found Cassandra doing a light dance in the cargo hold. Before he could actually admire the grace of her movements, she stopped as he entered, and blushed slightly from embarrassment. "Oh…hi," she said. "Sorry…am I allowed in here?"

"Yeah sure, just don't dig in" said Revan. "You won't need to anyway. You're coming to dinner with us tonight."

"Oh!" she said. "Thank you…is the dinner here?"

"Yeah," said Revan. "That's actually what I came to talk to you about. Frinch is dead, and Ardao knows."

Cassandra gave Revan another perplexed look. "Weren't you planning on waiting that out?"

"It wasn't me," said Revan. "But Ardao thinks it was, and you need to keep it that way."

"Alright," she said. "I can do that. Anything else?"

"Yeah," said Revan with a nod. He again felt awkward as he was about to tell her this, but there was no other way. "I'm going to need you to call me Uncle Jackie."

* * *

_We sincerely hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight". After we end Part III with the next chapter, we shall begin Part IV with a double update._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	30. Chapter 29: Inside Information

**Part II**

**Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

**

**Chapter 29**

**Inside Information

* * *

**

Trek's fleet orbited high above Spyroc. They had remained in orbit for two days, monitoring all activity about the planet after they killed Frinch.

Trek was standing on the very tip of the bridge of his flagship, the _Hammer of Judgment _staring out through the windows. "Have we any reason to think that the _Ebon Hawk_ might still be on the planet?"

"Nothing concrete," said Archie. "It's a smuggler's vessel; like with enough of a heat sink to not appear on radar if they don't want to."

Trek pondered for another moment. "Gill, how's home base?"

"Negative, but I picked up a message from Outpost Zero. That outfit we gave the slip; they've been spotted about half a light year west of Outpost Zero, heading South. They could be heading our way…"

"With backup too no doubt," muttered Trek. "Alright, I'm not wasting any more time here. Finding that ship is second priority; Saww, get a message out to the rest of the fleet. We're jumping to the Mota System. I want that space nexus ready to go by the time we get here. And when we get there, Tell the _Sonic Boom_ to send a scouting vessel back to the coordinates where we picked up prisoner 627."

"Yes sir!" said Archie.

"Lieutenant, the bridge is yours. I'll be interrogating the prisoner."

* * *

Unbeknownst to Commander Trek, the _Ebon Hawk_ was not far from the fleet. They had been slowly slipping past them in stealth mode and drifting farther away from Spyroc. They had only been in stealth mode for a half hour, but Revan had no interest in making contact with that fleet. He had no idea who they were, and if they could not jump to hyperspace upon exiting the planet's atmosphere, the only plan would be to get out of range.

As usual, Dustil was flying the ship, and Yuthura sat next to him. Revan stood behind them, and Lena was somewhere else. Revan figured she'd be taking a nap.

"We'll be out of range for their radar in another hour or so," said Dustil. "Sure you don't just want to make the jump now? We're well out of range from their tractor beams."

"They can't know we were ever here," said Yuthura. "At least, that's what I think."

"We won't have to wait much longer," said Revan. "That fleet is about to jump to hyperspace. When the flagship makes the jump, radiate the heat and start coordinating the jump."

"But…won't they still pick us up?" asked Dustil.

"It won't matter," said Revan. "Ships don't branch off from the rest of the fleet once the flagship makes the jump. Yuthura, keep your eye on it." Yuthura nodded.

Yuthura took a look at the radar. "Looks like the flagship is almost at the head of the fleet; should jump at any minute."

"So…" began Dustil. "We've taken on another passenger…"

"What?" questioned Revan. "You've got a concern? Spit it out."

"I don't know," said Dustil. "I mean…you found her infiltrating and exfiltrating Frinch's compound. I understand you were trespassing as well…but you happen to find her and all of a sudden you're bringing her tea and dumplings? It just…seems risky."

"Noted," said Revan flatly. That was the end of it.

"The flagship just made the jump," said Yuthura. "Same with the rest of the fleet. We're home free."

"Killing stealth system…now," said Dustil, pressing a few buttons on his side of the cockpit.

The heat left the Ebon Hawk almost immediately, and everyone in the crew felt a somewhat unpleasant chill from the sudden change in temperature.

"If a ship farts in space, and no one feels the heat, does it release heat?" chided Dustil.

"Yes," said Revan with a smirk.

"But no one felt the heat," said Yuthura, even though she didn't actually care about the answer.

"It doesn't matter," said Revan. "If someone was close enough to feel the heat, then he or she _would_ feel the heat. I hate contemplating that question. It's a waste of time."

"You've thought about this a little…haven't you…" suggested Dustil with a smile.

"Everyone wastes time," replied Revan. "Cut the chatter. Get us into hyperspace."

"Calculating complete," said Yuthura. "On your go…"

Dustil nodded and pulled one of the levers backward. The stars stretched out and within seconds, the _Ebon Hawk_ hit light speed.

"Well done," said Revan. "I'll be in the kitchen." Revan left the cockpit.

"You should go too," said Yuthura to Dustil. "I'm with you on this Cassandra situation. Maybe you should bring it up again."

"This soon? No way," said Dustil. "We know him better than that."

"Still," said Yuthura. "Only one of us needs to be here now that we're in hyperspace. I'll take it from here. Practice your saber techniques or something."

"Alright," conceded Dustil. He left the cockpit and proceeded into the garage, where he found Lena meditating."

"Hey Lena," said Dustil, nudging her out of her concentration. "Got a sec?"

"For you? Sure. What's up?"

"How do you convince Revan that what he's doing is not a good idea?"

Lena chuckled. "Let me guess," she said. "You don't trust the girl?"

"Not particularly," said Dustil. "But give me a reason to…"

"I'm not getting involved with this," said Lena. "It seems a bit too trivial. I may agree with you, but it's Revan's call."

"But Revan isn't a wall of stone," said Dustil.

"He can be persuaded, but only by a good idea. If you just tell him that the current solution isn't working, he'll listen, but he won't _really_ listen unless you provide an alternative solution."

"Dumping the girl back home isn't an alternative?" said Dustil. "Yuthura and I think we've invested a little too much in her, when we don't even know what she has to offer. She can fly a ship…so can I."

"She's also very good at playing niece," said Lena.

"But we don't need her," said Dustil. "We got lucky with Ardao, but we've got a good thing going here. What's her purpose here?"

Lena gave Dustil a perplexed look. "Dustil Onasi…have the bonds gotten to your head?"

"What! No!" Dustil said defensively. Lena gave him another look, which made him change his mind. "Well okay, maybe. But there aren't any gains here. Revan expects information from her. What are we expecting to find out from a sassy girl a year younger than _me?_ The meaning of life?"

"You want the meaning of life?" said Lena. "It's not a singular concept. It's unique to everyone. It's what you do with your life that gives it meaning. There…meaning."

"I was being facetious…" said Dustil. "But my point stands. What do we have to gain?"

"In case you forgot," said Lena. "We didn't make an impossible journey into the Unknown Regions to land a lucrative job as smugglers and guns for hire. We came to learn about the True Sith and discover a means to defeat them. What do you need to learn? Information; which is what Revan's after. It's a priceless commodity."

"But we don't even know what she has to offer."

"We'll find out soon enough," said Lena. "Until then, deal with her."

Dustil smirked. "You're a lot better at going along with a plan than I am."

"Revan hasn't let me down yet," said Lena. "A skeptic is always needed. Don't count yourself out." Lena sighed and mumbled to herself. "Fenix was always better than me…"

"You mean…the Exile?"

"That's what those who don't know her name call her," replied Lena. "Fenix…Katara Fenix, my best friend; the one who inspired me to put myself behind what I believe in, and how most everything else is just background noise."

"If you are about to tell me a long dry story…" began Dustil. Then he smiled. "I totally want to hear it."

"Not particularly," said Lena. "But if your curiosity sparks about her, I'll be happy to quash it."

"Just one question…" said Dustil. "Do you think she's alive?"

"Definitely," said Lena. "It's been six and a half years since the war. She's alive, and the reason no one ever found her is because she doesn't want to be found. Revan and I know exactly what happened to her, and that's why _I_ hate Malachor V so much. It took my best friend away from me, and suffered her to a worse fate than I would wish upon my greatest of enemies."

"Hate enough to hack a Sith acolyte to bloody bits with an axe?" chided Dustil.

Lena chuckled and then nodded. "Yes."

"So what happened to her?"

Lena chuckled again. "I guess I spoke about quashing your curiosity too soon. I'll tell you about that another time. Wake me up when it's time to eat."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Jace took another hit to the ribs and then another hit to his jaw, knocking him and the chair he was tied to flat to the floor. He was shirtless and soaked in his own sweat and the light amount of blood from the brutal interrogation. His head was ringing from the whiplash, and the rest of his body was aching.

His interrogator stood over him. "How many more times do we have to do this?" he asked. "Just talk."

But the only sounds to come out of Jace's mouth were groans of pain. He had held his silence; for days. Oddly enough however, there was nothing to really keep him from talking. In his case however, he was almost getting used to the physical beatings. The last time Trek was there, he had endured much worse. Two days ago, Trek had squeezed his lungs with the Force over and over; an experience that made the generic Force choke feel like a light slap in the face.

Compared to that, the last twenty-so hours of getting bashed and smashed was tolerable, despite the immediate pain. They had kept him surprisingly very intact despite all of it. His organs were fine, a few of his ribs were cracked, but he had no broken bones or fractured joints. It was still nonetheless painful. Jace had no idea how much he could actually take, but his mental and emotional fitness far surpassed his physical.

A small voice in Jace's head screamed to him to end the pain, but how could he? He had nothing to confess. Jace was not a Sith like these people seemed to think, and yet it was impossible to prove it. If he told them the truth that he was a Jedi, it was likely that they had no idea what a Jedi was, so then he would have to explain it. Even though Commander Trek was trained to use the Force, this was the Unknown Regions. There were no Jedi here…or at least no known Jedi here. Then he would have to tell them that the Sith sucked the life out of his whole family while he was away, and found them all dead when he got back, prompting him to leave. Would they really buy that? Jace knew that if he was one of them, he probably wouldn't. Then again, if he just told them what they wanted to hear, that he was a Sith spy, they would politely thank him for the information and then kill him. These were thoughts that had come to him in the very short periods of time that he _wasn't_ tortured, but the torture was almost non-stop.

The interrogator hoisted Jace back up with the chair. "Very well." The interrogator tightened his fists and raised his hand again…

"Stop," said Trek as he entered the room. "I'll take it from here." The interrogator nodded and left the room. "How do you feel Jace? I imagine…not so good. Right?"

Jace made no reply. His thoughts and emotions were racing, and it took every bit of internal strength to hold his silence and resist Trek from reading his emotions. With all the scars and bruises on his face, it wasn't that hard, but Trek would be able to see through it if Jace gave him the opportunity. And Jace could not give him that satisfaction. It would only make Trek push for more.

"Well you're an agent for the Sith…not like I actually _care_ how you feel."

Jace looked at Trek in the eye and Trek returned the look. They had exchanged this glance so many times, and yet the messages sent were the same…uncompromising resolve.

Trek kicked Jace in his chair back down to the floor again. Jace felt his head ring again from the thud and let out a light groan.

"Those wounds don't look so good," said Trek. "Here, let me give you something for the pain." He took out a small syringe, but instead of injecting Jace with it, he lightly pressed down on it, causing a small portion of the fluid to shoot from the needle onto Jace's chest.

The fluid burned, especially in the areas that he was cut in. Jace cried out in pain, feeling like his skin was being penetrated with acid. It wasn't, but there were enough wounds on Jace's chest to force that scream from his diaphragm.

"_GET UP!_" yelled Trek as he Force hoisted Jace and the chair back up. "Talk, or I'm going to do the same to your face!"

Jace was breathing heavily, still trying to numb the pain he was still feeling on his chest. Looking at his chest, there was not a single trace of the acidic fluid. His wounds were still there, almost cauterized by it, but still quite apparent. He could not help but to continue screaming, even hurting his vocal cords in the process.

Jace's thoughts were still racing. That little voice in his head was now screaming, as if it was still feeling the effects of the torture. But Jace was too mentally strong to give in. Constantly, his conscious mind screamed to himself even louder than that other voice to silence it. "_Don't give in! DO NOT GIVE IN! NEVER COMPROMISE, EVEN IN THE FACE OF ARMAGEDDON! HE WILL BREAK BEFORE YOU DO, SO HOLD! KEEP IT TOGETHER! THE FORCE WILL PROTECT YOU!_"

These thoughts came in repetition for another thirty seconds. Jace was still breathing heavily, and still giving no response to Trek.

"I'm disappointed in you," said Trek. He grabbed Jace's hair and turned his head sideways, exposing the large knife cut on his left cheek. This time, he brought the needle to the point of light contact, but not penetration to the wound, and then pressed down, shooting the rest of the fluid onto the wound.

And just when another thought reached Jace that there was nothing more painful than the acid to the chest, he was proven wrong. His scream was even louder this time, and he squirmed, the rest of his body thrashing all around trying to move away from the needle, but Trek wouldn't let him. He received the entire dosage of it, and it burned even more. It was like the cut was getting bigger and bigger, even though it wasn't.

As the last drop his Jace's cheek, Jace's screams slowly died down, along with his consciousness. Through his eyes, his surroundings faded to black. It wasn't death; but it almost felt as good as death would probably feel under the circumstances. His head flopped downwards and his mind began to sleep…

Until a small spark of lightning pierced his heart like a dagger, jolting him back to reality, the pain of the wounds searing just as heavily once again. "Nice try," said Trek. "But I'm not done with you yet. You're going to tell me what you know…I don't care _what_ it takes."

Jace gritted his teeth and gave another groan of frustration. He didn't even know what to think at this moment. Despair was all over him.

Trek gave a sharp whistle and in another second, the first interrogator was back in the room, but Trek was still looking at Jace. "You have denied your affiliation with the Sith long enough. Maybe you aren't afraid to die for them, but I can make you die with more pain than you've ever imagined. Sergeant!"

"Yes sir!"

"Bring out the water boards."

* * *

_In the tunnels of hyperspace…_

"I wonder if that was a Sith fleet above Spyroc," said Yuthura.

"Who cares?" said Dustil. "Not like we can investigate them now."

"The Sith were going to show up one way or another," said Lena. "Didn't the Captain say it's time for dinner? Where is he?"

"He's in the kitchen," said Cassandra.

"You did a good job playing the niece last night, by the way," said Dustil. "Just thought I'd tell you that."

Cassandra gave Dustil an odd look. "Are you kidding? I was awful…I'm just glad he didn't ask me that many questions."

"Whatever," said Dustil. "I doubt you'll have to do it again."

"Let's hope not," said Revan coming in with a large pot in his hand. "I'd hate to feel as old as I was last night. Dustil, what's our ETA?"

"Another day or so," said Dustil.

"Right on schedule," said Revan. "Well anyway, I thought we'd have an early dinner, and I'd make it more family oriented. How does steak and gravy sound?"

Everyone in the crew except Cassandra widened their eyes. They stared at Revan like he had just woken up from a ten year coma.

"Where'd you learn to cook that!" Dustil asked. Revan shrugged his shoulders. Revan didn't actually know where he learned how to cook. Apparently he just knew.

"I didn't even realize we had that…" said Yuthura.

"Departure gift from Ardao," replied Revan. "He gave us the steak…we've always had the gravy."

"Why are we still talking about this?" said Lena. "Start setting the table! There's steak and gravy!"

Dustil got up to get the plates. Yuthura noticed that Cassandra was chewing her nail a bit. "Why the long face Cassandra?" she asked.

Cassandra blushed again. "I hate to spoil the fun but…"

"Yeah I know," said Revan. "Relax, I made you a salad. I respect the diet."

"Oh…" said Cassandra with a surprised smile. "Thank you!" Revan nodded.

"Why do I get the feeling that Ardao gave us more than just food?" said Lena.

"He did," said Revan. "Apparently…Frinch isn't the only one who has an illegal collection of wine."

"Really…" said Cassandra. "So he gave you a bottle?"

"Three…" said Revan with a chuckle. "But let's not get greedy. One is all we need for this dinner. That's two glasses each, including Cassandra and including Dustil."

"Aren't they a little young?" said Yuthura. "Not that I mind…"

"Dustil's old enough," said Revan, smirking at him.

"How'd you know?" said Dustil coming back in.

"Doesn't matter," said Revan.

"What are you talking about?" said Cassandra. "I feel so detached."

"Happy eighteenth birthday Dustil," said Revan.

"Happy birthday!" said the rest of the crew at different times.

"Well thank you," said Dustil. "I appreciate it."

Revan smiled. "We don't have cake…I figured the wine is good enough."

"Alright enough talk," said Lena. "Let's dig in!"

Revan opened the bottle and left it open for a few minutes to let it breathe. He cut into the steak and gave some to everyone but Cassandra. Dustil had brought her salad on his way back.

"Well I applaud your effort to cook this," said Lena. "Though we still have to find out if you're a _good_ cook."

"It's steak and gravy…" said Revan defensively. "Quit bitching…"

Lena poured Cassandra a glass. "Thanks," she said with a rather cute smile.

"You're mighty generous today," said Yuthura.

"Cheers everyone," said Revan as he raised his glass. "To Dustil's maturity and to a brighter future for all of us…"

The glasses touched and the crew took a sip of the wine. "So that's what wine tastes like," said Dustil. "Not bad."

"It's even better when you have steak in your mouth," said Lena. "Try it."

For about forty five minutes, the crew ate and ate. They had been fairly conservative on the wine, to the point that there was actually some left in the bottle when the steak was all finished.

"Wow that's the best dinner I've had in a _long_ time," said Dustil. "Thanks Revan."

"No problem," said Revan. "So Lena, how's my cooking?"

Lena had completely cleaned her plate. "Impressive," she said. "Most impressive."

Revan smiled. "Cassandra, how's your salad?"

"Great!" exclaimed Cassandra. "Thanks a lot! So I take it you want me to tell you about the KR's now?"

"What better time than when we have full stomachs?" mused Lena.

"I take it you've never been to Kraxis before," she said.

"Work never took us close to that system," said Lena. "What's out there?"

"Only an empire…" said Cassandra. "Seriously…are you all _that_ clueless?"

"Just assume we are," said Revan.

"Alright…" she said. "Well it's not too far from Spyroc. It's a big system, but only one inhabitable planet, called Kraxis. There are people on it, but it's controlled by another more powerful group. See, there's this race of aliens…I shouldn't even call them aliens because we're more alien to them than they are to us. Really monstrous species of people who have a lot of power…"

"What kind of power?" Lena interrupted, already knowing the answer. "Political, economic, militaristic?"

"All three," said Cassandra. "But also some kind of magic; they can do things, pretty much whatever they want. They're called the Sith."

"Sith," repeated Revan with a good-selling look of curiosity. "That's an interesting name. What language is that in?"

"Sith…" said Cassandra. "But they almost never speak it. They speak the same language we do."

"I take it these are the bad guys," said Yuthura. "Abusive of their powers or something?"

"Depends on whose side you're on," said Cassandra. "They have a military controlled empire, but the official owned territory is not very big. The unofficial territory is…a lot bigger."

"Bigger how?" asked Revan. "Are we…in it?"

"Yes," said Cassandra. "This galaxy really does belong to them, but they don't make it a point to show themselves in full force to attract attention."

"Here's an odd question," began Yuthura. "But…when you say 'this galaxy', are you referring to…everything?"

"Well, except the Unknown Territories of course," said Cassandra.

"Unknown Territories?" asked Revan.

"Yeah you know the rest of space beyond the Crispin Asteroid Field. No one ever goes past it; so to us, it's the Unknown Territories. I'm guessing that if there was life out there, they'd probably refer to our regions as something similar."

"Semantics semantics," said Lena. "So the Sith have unofficial control over everything…why don't they actively police? Isn't that what big empires do?"

"Probably," said Cassandra. "But my uncle, who lives on Hocrus told me that a lot of people on that world don't even know about the Sith, let alone the Kraxis Rebels."

"That's odd," said Revan. "You'd think a hostile empire would _want_ their subjects to know who's in charge." Revan was smiling to himself, happy that Cassandra did actually have some enlightening information that may have made it worth their while to bring her along.

"If they _did_ want that, then they aren't doing a good job," replied Cassandra. "Spyroc is close to the Becton System, which is a large marker of the official boundary. That's why we know of the Sith because we see them once in a while. Beyond the boundary, you could find them here and there, but they usually leave people alone."

"Then what makes you so sure that they control the place?" asked Dustil.

Cassandra gave Dustil an odd look. "Do you even doubt it Dustil?" she asked. "They've got enough overall power to set the whole Crispin Asteroid Field on fire. Why wouldn't they seize control of everything unless they already did? It doesn't matter what's under military jurisdiction; if they've got power to control you, then they control you. At least, that's what my brother says."

"You believe it?" asked Dustil.

Cassandra shrugged her shoulders. "It was enough for him to leave Spyroc and join the Rebels. My brother's pretty stubborn. So yeah, I guess I believe it."

"So about these rebels then," said Lena. "Since they're called the 'Kraxis Rebels', I guess they came from Kraxis and they're trying to free it?"

"The first one did," said Cassandra. "This galaxy hasn't seen much total war, but there have been at least two rebellions stemming from Kraxis. This one is the third, but it just took the name. It isn't limited to Kraxis only. The leader of it was from one of the Trytons, or so I read."

"Trytons," said Revan. "That's another system my work has never taken me to; but I believe we've been there before. That's the system with that big hypergate that goes through that little asteroid belt?"

"Yeah," said Cassandra. "That's where most of the population of this galaxy is. I've never been there, but there are like six planets, one or two of them are really overpopulated; kind of a cesspit as my uncle told me. Technically, the system is right outside the Sith's jurisdiction, but there's Sith activity in that system all the time. I'm not sure why, though."

"So this rebellion is like…interplanetary?" asked Revan.

"I'm not sure how big it is," said Cassandra. "I've heard a rumor that they've got a fleet, but again…I don't know. As a part of leaving Spyroc, I had hoped I could do it with my own ship so I could find them and join my brother."

"We'll take care of you, don't worry," said Revan.

"No need to patronize," said Cassandra almost defensively. However, she retracted with a cute smile. "But thanks for caring."

"Anything else about the rebels you can tell us? Do you know who the leader is?"

"I'm drawing a blank on his name," said Cassandra. "I want to say that his last name is Trek…but don't take my word for that. You know how I was really hesitant to say 'Kraxis Rebels' out loud on Spyroc?" Revan nodded. "That's because I've heard that bad things happen to people who talk openly about it. That's why I wanted to tell you while we were in space. It could be superstitious, but my gut tells me that it isn't. Bottom line, if anyone on Spyroc knew the leader's name, there's no way they'd ever it."

"Hmm," said Lena. Revan was pondering similarly, but Lena was more outspoken about it. "It would make sense for the KR's to have a fleet. Any underground movement in Sith territory would result in the ground ceasing to exist, right?"

Cassandra gave Lena another perplexed look. "Wait a second," she said. "Am I telling you people something you already know?"

"Obviously," said Revan sarcastically. "That's why I went out of my way to get you off the planet and decided not to go back to kill Frinch myself."

Cassandra merely stared at him, until Lena stole her attention. "I was merely conjecturing hypothetically based on what you said," said Lena. "This information is immensely helpful; I'm just wondering what we would do with it."

"I'll tell you what we do," said Revan. "The plan stays the same. We're taking you to Averst Station, we'll drop you off there and we'll give you a slice of the salary. How does twelve and a half percent sound?"

"What's the salary?" asked Cassandra.

"24,000 bonds," said Lena. "That amounts to 3,000 bonds for you."

Cassandra nodded. "Yeah that sounds good." She reached out and shook Revan's hand.

"I'll even throw you another favor and refer you to Gunthamore. He's got enough contacts to set you up with a job so you can earn enough to actually travel."

"Thanks," she said. "I'm glad I could help."

Dustil scoffed. "It's _my_ birthday, and _she's_ the one getting all the favors."

Lena and Yuthura rolled their eyes, but Revan laughed. "Alright you spoiled little brat. You know that bit about the cake?"

"Yeah…"

"I lied," said Revan. Revan removed the top part of the tray and hidden underneath was a small round cake.

"Happy now you big baby?" said Cassandra in an equally snarky tone to Dustil.

"I was never unhappy," said Dustil. "But yes. Let's eat."

* * *

_Two days later…_

"Yeah I can do that," said Gunthamore through his holographic communicator. "Just don't expect me to stick my neck too far out; but you'll get my cooperation." Gunthamore looked to his left and saw Revan, Lena, and Cassandra at the door. "Listen they're here now; I'll send them your way, but let me put you on hold. I'll get back to you in a few minutes." Gunthamore pressed a button on the communicator and then beckoned Revan to enter. "Welcome back," said Gunthamore. "I'm glad Ardao didn't keep you for too long."

"His hospitality was overwhelming," said Revan, matching Gunthamore's smile. "But there's something we need to discuss."

Gunthamore's expression turned to a frown. "I don't like being talked to that way. Don't forget; you signed a contract. _You_ work for _me_. _I_ decide what will be discussed and what won't be discussed. Is that understood?"

Cassandra gave Revan a nasty look, but both Revan and Lena kept their blank faces aimed at Gunthamore.

The pause lasted for about ten seconds, until Gunthamore immediately broke into a hysterical laughter. Revan and Lena smiled but did not laugh with him. "Ah, I couldn't keep that attitude for long! _Hahahahahaha!_ Of course I savor a discussion with you; what's up?"

"Well," began Revan. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it. We need out of the contract; at least temporarily."

"Something came up?" asked Gunthamore.

"It's my uncle," said Revan. "He has a brain tumor which is slowly killing him; he's been living alone since my aunt died, and I need to be there for him. It's untreatable; the doctors estimate that he'll have at least another year to live, but his condition will slowly worsen. I'd like to take care of him."

"I see," said Gunthamore. "And for what purposes do Arren and the rest of your crew need out of the contract?"

"We're going with him," said Lena. "Family sticks together; he's practically our uncle too."

"Noble," said Gunthamore. He scoffed a bit to himself and scratched his chin.

"I know we sprung this on you," said Revan. "It was sprung on all of us too."

"Yeah," said Gunthamore. "Good things never last I suppose." He thought for a moment. "Alright," he said. "I _can_ temporarily suspend the terms of the contract for your sake. And I'm even willing to do it; I had a grandmother who died of very similar causes, so I sympathize. But I'm in a tough position here. Are you flexible with this at all?"

"Flexible how?" Revan asked. "I can't promise a date of return if that's what you mean."

"No, that's not what I mean," replied Gunthamore. "You like working for me, right?"

"I like what gets me paid," said Revan. "Working for you has gotten me paid, so yes under those conditions, I like working for you."

"In that case," said Gunthamore. "I think it would be fair if I asked you to perform _one_ more job for me before I suspend the contract until you come back."

Revan looked at Lena and then Cassandra. They both nodded, but Revan thought to himself a bit. "_Something doesn't feel right here…we've only been working for Gunthamore for about a month; he gave in pretty willingly. Maybe I'm over thinking this…time isn't on our side…we have a lead, but it isn't likely to get cold any time soon._"

"I'd be okay with it Captain," said Cassandra.

"Me too," said Lena. "I'm sure Dustil and Yuthura will be okay with it too."

Revan barely heard them, for he was still thinking. With reluctance, he nodded. "Alright, what's the job?"

Gunthamore smiled. "You're going to love it," he said. "Tell me something; have you ever ridden the Tryton Train Line?"

"No I have not," said Revan.

"Well," said Gunthamore. "In case you don't know, the less populated Trytons IV, V, and VI have these trains that connect the main cities. Each planet has an identical train on it, all made by the same company. These trains are fast like a laser blast. They'll get you from A to B in record timing."

"Is that so?" said Revan with an impressed tone.

"It is so," said Gunthamore. "It just so happens, that three crates of the goods that my client wants will be loaded up three days from now on the Tryton V Trackster here." Gunthamore pulled out a map and pointed to a city just south of the equator. You will board the train along with the goods; the train will get to Paradiz in two hours, so that's your time frame. You must be off the train with those goods before it gets to Paradiz."

"We can do that," said Revan. "How will we know to identify the goods?"

"That won't be very difficult," said Gunthamore. "The boxes will bear the icon of the Sith."

"The Sith…" said Revan. "You're serious…"

"You don't…have a problem with that. Do you?"

"It's just funny, because there's no public record of the Sith ever existing in the business of this station," said Revan. "So it's just odd that people like you seem to know about them…and would even further want to steal from them."

"There's no record of the Sith in the public computers because they wanted it that way," said Gunthamore. "Not like it matters…they've done business with almost everyone here, but it's done in a much more discreet fashion. All the regulations, all the stable growth for 700 years…it's all for show. The real reason no recession ever happened is because the Sith have constantly poured money into the system, but they don't print or make any more than what is required, and they get enough revenue in their official territories to easily afford it, so we don't have to worry too much about inflation either. Again…stealing from the Sith won't be a problem…right?"

"No," said Lena. "Actually that makes it more exciting. I'd almost do it for free."

"Really," retorted Revan, looking at Lena. "Can I have your share?"

"No."

"If you die can I have your share?"

"Yes."

Gunthamore began laughing. "A healthy sense of humor," he said. "I like it."

"A train job though," said Lena. "I've always wanted to do something like that."

"Opportunity is a fabulous thing isn't it?" Gunthamore commented.

"Indeed it is," said Revan. "You're sure you're okay with this?" he asked Cassandra.

She nodded. "Yeah," she said.

"Oh speaking of that," said Gunthamore. "I understand that this isn't Dustil Onasi or Yuthura Ban, which makes her not a part of your crew. If I may inquire as to your identity my dear?"

"You may," said Cassandra with a slight bow. "Cassandra Vesta is my name."

"Ah yes of course!" said Gunthamore. "You're this man's niece. Ardao had his share of pleasant things to say about you. It is very nice to meet you."

"Likewise," said Cassandra. She looked at Revan. "You want to tell him that other thing we talked about?"

"Yeah," said Revan. "I'm actually quite glad I took the job, because I have another favor to ask. My niece here is one of the best pilots I've ever known."

"Well I can't take all the credit," said Cassandra. "After all, it was my uncle who taught me." Lena began laughing in the background, loving the irony of the truth that Revan never got a chance to fly the Ebon Hawk. Everyone ignored her.

"Anyway," said Revan. "I was hoping you'd be able to use your contacts and set her up with someone. I don't think she's equipped for your kind of jobs, but someone else could probably…"

"Sure," said Gunthamore before Revan could finish. "You got it. Tell you what; you keep her with you just for this job; I'm sure that by the time you come back victorious, I'll have something for her."

"Deal," said Revan.

"Head for Tryton V; by the time you get there, your names will be registered on the manifest. Then you just show ID, and you're in. _Oh!_" he exclaimed. "That reminds me. There's another small catch. Swords and blasters are strictly forbidden on the train; droids are okay, but no weapons. So…you know…try not to engage anyone."

"Alright," said Revan. "Now it's _really_ more fun."

"You can still do it for free if you want," said Gunthamore with another smile.

"Well we'll be on our way then," said Revan. "Who and where is your client for delivery?"

"Just bring them here," said Gunthamore. "I've got another team to ship them out."

"You got it," said Revan. "See you when we've got the goods."

"Greatly looking forward to it," said Gunthamore. "And you my dear," he said to Cassandra. "I'll call in a few favors and get you something. Just keep that uncle of yours in line."

"Don't worry, I…will," said Cassandra, her face slightly flushed. The three of them walked out of Gunthamore's office. "Why is everybody you work for so friendly?" she asked.

Revan laughed. "It's because ninety five percent of everything is make-believe. You just have to act like you buy it and you get rich pretty quickly."

Meanwhile, Gunthamore closed his doors and turned his communicator back on. "Did you get that?" he asked.

"Yes," came the somewhat grim reply. "Your services are greatly appreciated Gunthamore. We won't forget it."

"Happy to help," answered Gunthamore. "Now where's my money?"

* * *

_One hour later…_

"Attention!" yelled Archie Saww. The whole bridge stood up and saluted Commander Trek as he entered the bridge.

"As you were," said Trek. "We have a new destination. Set course for the Tryton System. Wicky!"

"Sir!"

"Find a match?"

"Yes sir," Wicky. "100 percent confirmed. I just transferred the data to your chamber. I figured you'd want to take it in there."

"Good. When we get to Tryton, I want you to register yourself, me, Rocha, Judd, and three other soldiers of your choice to ride the Trackster, from Ikcarsich to Paradiz three days from today. I expect the confirmation on my desk no later than two hours after we get out of hyperspace."

"Will do…but what happens if the train is sold out?"

"Then we'll do what I did the first time I ever had to ride that train…kill a few ticket-holding lookalikes, take their ID's and tell the guards we having a bad hair day."

"Yes, sir!"

"Very good," said Trek. "Saww, the bridge is yours. Make the jump."

"Thank you sir," said Archie. "You heard the Commander! Transfer hyperspace coordinates to the other ships and let them know the plan! The rest of you, get ready to make the jump to hyperspace. As soon as we have confirmation, make the jump! _MOVE!_"

* * *

**End of Part II: Dealings of the Enemy

* * *

**

_We sincerely hope that you have enjoyed Part II of "The Prodigal Knight". The premiere of the final part shall be the next two chapters, posted simultaneously._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	31. Chapter 30: All Aboard

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

Chapter 30  
**

**All Aboard

* * *

**

It was travelling through the tunnels of hyperspace, nearing its destination of Ansion. A large transportation shuttle packed with refugees that had been traveling from Bakura for a few days.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your official wakeup call," said the Captain over the intercom. "We will be landing on Ansion in twenty minutes. Please gather your things and be prepared to depart through your standard exits by that time."

Most of the passengers were fast asleep and somewhat shaken by the wakeup call, but one particular passenger had been awake the entire night. She was breathtakingly beautiful in appearance. Her face was a stunning combination of flawless pale and golden colored skin. Her long brown hair was slightly braded and tied up neatly with a single flower needle in it. She wore standard civilian clothes underneath a former dark brown Jedi robe that she had cunningly turned into an overcoat. By her looks, she was someone who had lived a healthily and maintained a sharp figure.

However, this woman was far more than just gorgeous in appearance. She was in fact a victim of the Force's sick sense of humor. Her life that she could recall was not a tale of romance, but a tale of war and tragedy; for so long a proud knight of the Jedi Order, slightly older than Revan and Malak, but nonetheless their willing ally when the time came to crush the Mandalorians in war. When the button of instant death was pressed in the space above Malachor V, it was under her orders to Bao-Dur. It was that decision that destroyed her connection to the Force and left her at the mercy of the Jedi council; a group that showed none of it when they cast her from the Order. Who was she? She was the Jedi Exile. Her name was Katara Fenix, and she had been a wonderer of the galaxy since the day she was cast from the Jedi Order upon her return at Mandalorian War's end.

The transport landed in the docks of Ansion, and Katara was among the first to exit. During her exile, she was a woman of very few words; only talking to someone if she had to. The number of men who had tried to make a move on her could not be counted with her fingers, but the quieter she was, and the more focused her mind was on getting somewhere to see the sights, the less she was able to think about her traumatizing past. She passed through the segway terminal, and though the Force was not with her, she was fully aware of the fact that she was being followed.

Several meters behind her, separated by at least twenty people was a dark cloaked and dark hooded man, his eyes covered by the cloak but the rest of his senses bent on tracking her.

Katara wanted to stay on Ansion for at least a few days to see the sights, as this was a planet she had never visited, but her life was a mobile life. This was not the first time in her exile she had been followed, but through a mirror she walked past that she first saw him in, she noticed a small metal notch on the belt, the rest of it hidden behind the coat, but it was clear to exactly what it was. Without a lightsaber or the Force as an ally, Katara did have something to fear from a blaster.

It was likely that the pursuer knew that Katara knew that he was following her, but Katara cared not for that. The priority was to give him the slip, not to quietly take him out. Katara still knew how to fight, but she had not done so since Malachor V, nor did she have any intention of doing it again.

Slowly and steadily, Katara began walking a bit faster. Her target was a large alien a few meters in front of her moving in the same direction. She kept watch over her peripherals as she caught up to the big alien and slowly proceeded to cut in front. The large alien hadn't a care about it. Still moving forward back at the normal speed, she noticed another brown haired woman in a light beige trench coat, very similar in color.

Katara slowed down, enough to make the big alien behind her want to cut in front from the left. As the alien began to swerve, Katara swerved with him, and then she swerved a second time to the left, entering a gate of another transport that she had no intention of boarding.

There were enough people between Katara and the pursuer that she knew that she had at least temporarily lost him. After taking the flower out of her hair and letting it down all the way, she slowly went over to the similar looking woman. She tapped her on the shoulder and gave her the flower. "Put this in your hair," she said. "For good luck…" The woman took the flower, looked at it and then looked at the Katara. All Katara could do was to smile at her, but the woman shrugged her shoulders.

"Why not?" she said, and tied her hair up just enough to stick the flower in.

The Exile crossed the crowd of people again, making sure to stay in front of the larger aliens. "_Great…I need a new flower again,_" she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, the pursuer had temporarily lost track of the Exile, so he stopped and looked around for about a minute. With a pair of binoculars, he looked past the big alien, and noticed that Katara was no longer in front of him. He turned to his right, but could not see her. Moving forward a bit and turning left, he saw a woman with the coat that the Exile was wearing. He smirked to himself and joined the line. The transport was bound for Carratos, an inner rim world. He thought it strange that the Exile would travel that close to the Core, but he knew it was her getting on the transport.

This assassin was of the Sith, but merely a Force sensitive. He was a lone operative, travelling the galaxy at his discretion to look for Jedi or ex-Jedi to target. On his belt was a blaster, but also a tracker, so Darth Sion could monitor his position. He had not activated it yet, for he was not on the transport the Exile was previously on; merely expecting her arrival based on speculation that she was on her way there. The Exile's postured and balanced stance, her heavy walk, and her quiet expression told him that she was exactly who she was, especially given that he was trained to spot these kinds of things. He hadn't planned on turning the tracker on until he could actually talk to the Exile, disguised as someone with ill intentions.

Little did he know that the real Exile was now boarding a tourist transport for a day's tour of Ansion.

* * *

_On the planet Tryton V in the town of Ikcarsich…_

It had been three days since Revan and the crew had made one last deal with Gunthamore, to pull off a train job with a pay higher than they had ever received. They would be robbing a large box of goods off a train. The goods belonged to the True Sith, and the plan was to steal them before the train could get from Ikcarsich to Paradiz.

The last two days had been spent mapping out the train route. However, given that it was the True Sith they were stealing from, they did have a contingency. Smuggled separately in their bags, were different parts of a Zabrak Tystel Mark III that they would assemble while on the train. HK-47's vocabulator was temporarily shut down, for they had discovered that it was legal and even common practice to carry a protocol droid. If any questions were asked, this was a protocol droid with a broken vocabulator; a relatively easy story to sell.

Little did Revan and Lena know that they were expected by someone on the train besides the ticket checker.

"Identification please?"

Revan and Lena flashed their badges, proof that they were indeed Jack Raven Kerr and Arren Kae. "I was told the forms for droid registration were here?" asked Revan.

"Here's a copy for you," said the ticket checker. Revan nodded and began filling the form.

"I'll go ahead and put our bags through security," said Lena. Revan nodded again without even looking, as he filled out the form. As he finished, he turned it back in.

"Right this way sir," she said. "Enjoy your trip."

"Thanks," said Revan with a light smile. He and HK-47 proceeded to join Lena at the security gate. They passed through the hologram field, and their lightsabers, which were hanging at their belts were not identified. Lena smirked a bit, but Revan resisted the urge to be so smug. His expression was colder at this moment, because it was more important than ever to remain aloof if we was to get on the train. However, before letting hem pass, one of the guards stopped them.

"Excuse me," said the guard. "I understand you have no weapons on you, but if I might inquire, what are those?" The guard pointed at Revan's lightsabers, which were strapped at his side.

"Flashlights," said Revan.

"Why do you have two?"

"They're of different color," Revan replied. He pointed to _Heart of the Guardian_. "This one shoots a bronze colored beam; the other one…" Revan pointed to _Mantle of the Force_. "Is a cyan colored beam. I use both because when you combine the effects of these two colors, you can see things exactly as they are, as opposed to what the sole color of your flashlight projects it as."

"Interesting," said the guard. "Carry on."

They moved past the guards and proceeded to the waiting terminal. "That was brilliant," said Lena. "I thought for sure he was going to ask you to press the button to show him."

"Yeah but you know there is a setting in which your lightsaber can just be a flashlight, right?"

"Yeah," said Lena. "I meant the story about color combinations. Is it true?"

"I don't know," replied Revan. "I just made it up."

One hour and fifteen minutes later, the announcer came on. "Now boarding passengers in cars 19A to 26D."

"That's us," said Lena. "Middle to rear of the train, perfect segway…"

"Let's go," said Revan. "We've got a private cabin. Get ourselves settled before the halls get cluttered."

The three of them boarded the train, almost in the front of the line and settled themselves into the cabin. The cabin was comfortable, although it seemed like it was more suitable for an overnight trip.

The train began moving half an hour later. "Lena, I want you to keep your eye on the peephole," said Revan. "I want to listen to HK's briefing one more time. You see anyone coming, let me know and I'll shut it up." Revan switched HK-47's vocabulator back on.

"Metaphor: Master, with your permission, I will assemble my tool of destruction."

Revan and Lena both chuckled at that remark. "Denied HK," said Revan. "You'll get your chance once we get into the compartment. I want this mission to run smooth and fast, so we can take our money and chase up that lead we have on Kraxis. Begin the briefing."

"Summary: This 200 meter long metal vehicle will in the next few minutes pick up speed to 600 kilometers per hour. From that point, Paradiz will be just under four hours away. Approximately 787 kilometers from Paradiz comes the Lainer Mountains, in which the train will enter a tunnel and will exit the tunnel within sniper range of Paradiz. We will need to be out with the goods before the tunnel. However, this train will be stopping twice, the first one approximately seventy seven minutes from now, and the second one approximately twelve minutes from the first. This gives us a time window of approximately thirty nine minutes and seventeen seconds to steal the goods.

"We are looking for four large black crates all of which bear the markings of the Sith, which Master Number Two will identify. The Ebon Hawk will be monitoring our position from above, and will hover above the train car that the goods will be in. By my reasonable estimates, it should be three cars away. We will fasten the goods to a cable and hoist them up the ramp. We will remain on the train so to avoid suspicion from the authorities and will be picked up at the rendezvous point approximately five kilometers west of Paradiz."

"Thank you HK," said Revan. "That will be all for now."

"Statement: As you desire Master. I shall be on standby until the mission begins."

HK-47's eyes went dark and the droid remained completely still.

"I hate waiting like this," said Lena. "I wish we could get the goods now."

"Too much urban sprawl near this train's position," said Revan. "It's practically a desert where we're getting it. It's the only way." Revan paused and looked at Lena. "But you're bothered by something else."

"I don't know," said Lena. "I just don't have a good feeling about this job, but there's nothing my senses are telling me that I don't already know. It doesn't necessarily feel like a trap…it just feels like maybe we're missing an opportunity? I don't know if I'm even making sense."

"Maybe," said Revan. "This planet is a lot more dangerous than it seems."

"Danger I can handle," said Lena.

"Not when you're trying to fly a ship through a massive defense grid with every True Sith gunning for you," said Revan. "That's why we need this job to go smooth and simple."

"They never are," said Lena. "We've covered our own I think…but we have to be prepared for the possibility that there are True Sith nearby. If they spot us, we won't have a choice but to kill them."

"At least HK will be happy," said Revan. "I have my concerns as well. Bury them on this matter, for as long as things are as according to plan. They do us credit, but it's a clear sign for our enemies of our location. Just remember that I love you."

Lena furrowed her bow. "What?"

"A cover that we're married," said Revan. "We get tagged at the drop off and they start questioning us, we're a married couple looking for work."

"Right," said Lena. "Yes sir…sweetheart?" Revan smirked.

A while, later, the train had just stopped for the second time, and the boarding time was another half hour. The situation had been an eerie silence for a while; but Revan could not help but notice Lena's agitation persist. Her posture wasn't as good as it always was, but He felt bad for throwing her concerns aside so quickly as he had done, but it didn't seem that she cared about that. More like she was feeling something that he wasn't. But Lena wasn't hesitant on voicing her opinion either. If she wanted something, she would push and push for it, almost to the point of being a bit of a brat about it.

"Lena," he finally said. She looked up at him. "I need to know if you're fit for this mission." Lena furrowed her brow. "You're body language isn't the most assuring sign of that."

"Sorry," she said. "I'll be fine."

"You're sure about that?" said Revan somewhat coldly. "This operation has to go like clockwork. There isn't any room for screw-ups. If you can't handle this, you can get off at this station and have Yuthura take your place. I'm worried because this is the first time you've ever started to slip."

"I'm not slipping Revan," said Lena in a very irritated tone. "Excuse me for my tone. I know my purpose and my place, but I'm telling you; there's something afoot here. Frankly, I'm surprised you're so cool right now. Are you not picking up anything?"

"No," said Revan. "I feel the life in this train, but I can't feel anything out of place. My state of awareness is still in yellow."

"Yeah, mine's a strong orange;" replied Lena. "It's just a feeling I can't shake off. Everything, about this job, about the last several weeks since we entered the Unknown Regions; it's too easy. Last five days now, ever since we saw that True Sith; I've been kicking myself. There's nothing wrong with my senses, I can feel and control the Force just as always, but I've got intuition."

"What are you talking about?"

"This whole journey," said Lena. "It's too easy. We both know the Force is in control of the universe, but we have both broken free of its will. We should be smart enough to figure out convenience when and where it exists. No ship that ventured into the Unknown Regions _ever_ came back except for mine. We're _in_ the damn Unknown Regions, and we've hardly seen a sign of danger that could easily kill us before we knew what hit us. The people are just like us; they speak our language; after secretly looking for the True Sith this whole time, we've come across one. And then the next day, we find out that the man that True Sith was protecting has just been killed, and it _wasn't_ my bomb? It was easier than ever to land an incredibly high paying job that let us explore this neck of the galaxy. We have valid forged identification; we have enough money to retire, but that's not our mission!"

"What?" retorted Revan. "You think money and jobs took priority?"

"No," said Lena. "I'm just saying…we're _in_ the damn Unknown Regions!"

"You've been here before; you lived."

"I was in one planet…in a dungeon…for four years. That hardly counts as a visiting trip. We've been over this before."

"Yeah, I have noticed that things have gone our way quite a bit," said Revan.

"And you didn't think to question any of it?"

"I didn't think it was relevant," said Revan. "My mind is on the mission; that mission is to find a way to destroy the Sith. To accomplish this mission, you need leads. To find leads, you need to branch out to pick up a thread. You think we've been lucky? We haven't found _any_ thread until now. We've been running blind, until now. That's why I took this job. It was another chance to explore another world near the Tryton Hypergate, which we hadn't gotten the chance to. Did you notice the massive amount of Sith activity in that area? If this thread we have on the Kraxis Rebels doesn't get us anywhere, now I know we have this. But I'm not giving up that lead with the Kraxis Rebels yet. This mission can't run coarse."

"You're still thinking about the dream too, aren't you…?" Lena replied.

"Yeah," said Revan. "But up until this point, it was the closest thing to a thread I ever had, but we still couldn't figure it out, so screw it. We can now operate based on what we have, and that's what we're going to do."

Lena sighed. In her mind, it was rather relieving to hear Revan's perspective on this, just to once again be assured that he had a perspective to begin with. Revan was always thinking; that was what made him such a great leader. It was interesting to hear that Revan was to a degree even more pessimistic than her, but in a different way. But he was right. There was no solid way to interpret the events that had taken place in their journey so far. All she could be sure of was that she was relieved to have even gotten this far at all, when her life was so close to ending on Malachor V when Darth Nihilus was squeezing the life from her bosom. She didn't want herself to be impatient, but even the torture of the True Sith never brought her as close to death as that moment.

"Your thoughts are disturbed," said Revan again. "Okay look, I don't want this mission going south, but this train is about to leave again, so it's probably too late now to switch you with Yuthura. Go take a walk around the train and cool off. Five minutes after the train starts moving, HK and I will make our way to the cargo hold. Meet us there."

"Right," said Lena. "All three of us going together will arouse suspicion."

"And you need to clear your head," said Revan ardently pointing his finger at her. "Is that understood?"

Lena nodded. "I'll meet you there." Lena turned and left the quarters to commence with her walk. Despite how irritated she was by the tone, she knew that Revan was right to call her out on that, and that he was right to make her clear her head. It was for the best, and she knew that Revan knew what she was doing. If it were any other person telling her to do this, she would have thought twice, but her loyalty to Revan was the base of all her actions and the trust she had for him swam high above any of such feelings.

Revan sat, staring out the window and occasionally at HK-47 whose red eyes flickered once in a while, indicating that the droid was only on standby. Little did he know that Lena had contemplated the conflicting perspectives, but he was essentially doing the same thing. In his mind, Lena was a lot more right than he wanted to admit, but there were still holes in her logic. She had made it sound like everything was a cakewalk, but she had conveniently forgotten to mention the part about the Ebon Hawk almost crashing into the asteroids in the Crispin Belt. Granted, she was still unconscious at the time, but she did know about it. But also, things had been travelling a lot faster than Revan expected. This was going to be a slow journey; they did not have the luxury of time, but it was also not something they could be so stressed about that it would compel them to do something stupid.

Lena's perspective on the Frinch mission definitely had some merits, as the whole experience was very perplexing. In hindsight, they had gone in, placed the bomb, but then got distracted, which changed the plans of escape. Then, not only did their bomb not go off, but Frinch died anyway at the hands of someone else. Lena believed this to be a mistake; Revan could hardly disagree with it, but on the plus side, he was finally able to see and hear a True Sith in the flesh, and Cassandra's information was immensely useful to the goal of picking up a thread without alerting the enemy to his intentions or presence. This was a gamble, and Revan knew it; but he was farsighted enough to understand that when it came to something like this, it was for the best that he casually let it play out as it happened, even if he had the power to change things. However, there would be no distractions this time. Now that he had a trail or two to go off on, he could not afford any distractions. He did feel a little bitter making Lena take a walk, but it was nothing to lose sleep over.

"_She'll be fine…_" he thought.

But Lena was opinionated. She had her convictions, but she did not have the foresight of comprehension Revan did. Revan always underestimated himself, but he knew Lena's strengths and weaknesses very well. Lena may not have been wrong about all this being too easy, but she had a strong and naive tendency to twist facts to support her own theories instead of theories to support facts. Lena could still never convince Revan that his actions as a Sith Lord were done so in the most charitable fashion. Lena could still never convince Revan that behind the mask was a man completely unaffected by the dark side of the Force. If he hadn't been fully corrupted by the war, the dark side would certainly eat away at him with each Jedi slain, etched upon his soul.

All these thoughts were filling Revan's head, because at this moment, he had nothing else to think about. He had gone over the plan for this mission a few thousand times in his head; he knew it forward and backward.

Ironically, the man who killed Frinch was the same man Revan was looking for, even though he did not know of his existence. Amicus Trek had learned of Revan and Lena from his discovery in Frinch's compound. One way or another, Revan and Trek were going to meet. But at this moment, it was a game of cat and mouse, where only one party actually was knowingly hunting the other.

The train was moving again, quickly picking back up to its full speed. Revan sat, almost counting down the seconds, until HK-47's eyes lit up, gleaming its death red color again.

"Statement: Master, my time alarm data informs me that our window of opportunity begins now. Query: Shall we proceed to make our move?"

Revan stood up. "Smuggle the parts of your gun into your compartments. As we move to the cargo hold, say nothing. Understood?"

"Answer: Yes, Master. That is understood. Query: Now may we please proceed? My metallic fingers are twitching with delight of the possibility of violence."

"You're beginning to sound like Twitch," retorted Revan.

"Commentary: Master, my databanks hold no memory of an encounter with one you call Twitch, but I like him already."

Twitch was a Rodian that Revan defeated in the dueling arena in the Upper City of Taris. He was the champion next to Bendak Starkiller until Revan slapped him down in the ring. Twitch was a trigger-happy psycho. Revan laughed at this as he and HK-47 started moving.

Even though most people were settled, there was still a sea of people Revan and HK-47 were attempting to get through. Revan had to push his way through the crowd. HK-47 did not have that problem, as no one ever wanted a metal boot stepping on their feet, so they kindly moved out of the way. HK-47 stayed close behind Revan.

As Revan moved, he closed his eyes. "_Lena,_" he whispered through the Force. "_We're on our way to the cargo hold. Meet us there._"

"_Will do,_" replied Lena straight back. "_Just give me a minute. My feelings are persisting. I just need to check something. I won't be long._"

"_Alright,_" Revan slowed down for HK-47 to catch up. "HK," he whispered. "I'm worried about Lena. If you noticed anything strange about her, nod your head; if not, shake your head. He glanced as HK-47 shook its head.

They passed one more car full of passengers. The cargo hold was a large room, in which the hallway swerved around it. Revan looked beyond the curtain to see that no one was coming in. At the same time however, he felt a light presence in the cargo hold. The entrance was right in front of him, and he was concealed to anyone who didn't open the curtain, but it was best not to take any chances.

"HK," he whispered. "We need to give Lena a little more time. Assemble."

Without saying a word, HK-47 took the components separately out of his compartments and began rapidly assembling the weapon. Spare battery clips were still kept inside the droid's right leg, but within less than a minute, HK-47 had a fully loaded Baragwin Assault Rifle assembled and ready.

"She's still not here," said Revan, rolling his eyes. "We'll have to proceed without her. There's one person in the cargo hold…he doesn't seem to be moving. We'll just have to take him. Let's go."

HK-47 held his gun up and opened the door. He stepped in first, pointing the gun straight at the individual in the room, and Revan entered in after.

The cargo hold was very large, much longer than it was wide, but the boxes were all on the side stacked up on top to provide room for employees only to move through if needed. There stood Amicus Trek leaning against one of the large boxes. "Took you long enough to get here."

"Advisory: It is not a good idea to berate the master while your skull is on the end of my blaster. Perhaps shattering a kneecap will make you understand that better…meatbag."

"Captain Kerr, I presume…if that is in fact your real name. I know Arren Kae isn't your friend's real first name," said Trek, ignoring HK47's remark.

Revan's expression turned cold and his hands were behind him, tightly gripping both of his lightsabers. "That makes two unpleasant surprises in the middle of my work. If you know anything about me, you might know that I hate surprises."

"I won't care to pretend like I do know you at this moment," said Trek. "But I do know your real name…and your purpose here."

"Interjection: Master, my infrared signatures detect six other meatbags located in this room, scattered throughout the cargo crates. The flamethrower mechanism on my arm is perfect for this type of scenario. Might I suggest we use it?"

Revan smirked, figuring that they were not alone. "Negative HK, just keep your gun pointed at _this_ meatbag."

"Well aren't we being nice…" said Trek. "Not a very charitable way to treat the person who's going to save your life today."

"Save _my_ life? From what?"

"Listen to me very carefully," said Trek. "They're here, and they're here for you and Lena. They've been shielding their presence from you, and apparently it worked. From one Force user to another…I can tell you aren't used to fighting them, as you certainly don't know their tactics. The Sith will not be in the train, yet they will be very near us. The only one in the train will likely be in the front-most car. Reach out with the Force towards there…you'll see it."

"Try anything…" said Revan. "One wrong move…my hunter killer aims for the head. And the six commandos you've got hiding in here won't be enough to stop it."

"I believe you," said Trek somewhat innocently.

Revan closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. He could feel the presence of the other six commandos in the room. He could also feel the people walking through the hallway past the cargo hold. Revan's reach extended further to the front. In the front-most car, the driver was dead on the floor with someone else in his place. Next to the man, standing with arms crossed was a True Sith.

Revan's eyes snapped open. "I only see one…behind the driver."

"The rest will be someplace harder to detect," said Trek. "They'll be coming this way. The driving Sith are there for emergencies. The other teams will be slowly making their way to us. They'll be coming from both directions…try and cut us off. Where is Lena Verado?"

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that name," said Revan. "But I…oh no…"

Revan paused. He couldn't speak anymore…not while his head suddenly started to ring violently. He already knew what it was – another disturbance in the Force. His heart was pounding faster and faster and he was almost hyperventilating. A little bit of blood began to drip from one of his nostrils. He wiped the blood off with his sleeve, and looked back up to see Trek giving him an odd look.

"What the hell happened to you?" Trek said but not in a tone of voice that hinted compassion in any way.

Revan had not experienced a disturbance in the Force that violent since the time right before meeting Lena on Coruscant. He took several deep breaths. "They've got her…"

Before Revan could say more, he was interrupted by the voice of someone else, not present among Amicus Trek or his squad mates.

"_And now we've got you too…_"


	32. Chapter 31: Blood on the Tracks

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark  
**

**

* * *

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**Chapter 31**

**Blood on the Tracks**

**

* * *

**

In the caboose of the bullet train, Lena entered the car, after passing several other cars full of passengers. Some of them had made her weary, but she made a special effort not to show it. She had been walking in that direction for several minutes now, still trying to shake off the ill feeling she had. But it was getting to the point where it was clear that the Force was probably telling her something that either she did not want to hear. The caboose car was empty, a fact that aroused even more suspicion to Lena. Her eyes scanned the room, but it was just an empty car. There were comfortable seats on the sides and a decently wide isle in the middle where she was walking on, but no one was there. "_One would think that a train as luxurious as this would be absolutely full._"

She walked over to the end, looking out the window to see a vast empty desert behind that was rapidly getting farther and farther away. This was most definitely the end of the train. Lena closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. There was no one else in the room, but instead of trying to feel a hostile presence in the passenger occupied cars, Lena extended it to the outside of the train…

And she knew. The True Sith were on the train, and they were gunning for her. There may be standard human soldiers amongst the crowd, but standing on top of the train perfectly still were eleven True Sith Warriors, all of them green skinned, armed with vibroswords on their belts.

Lena drew her lightsaber and activated both blades in a single _snap-hiss_. There was one Sith warrior standing on top of the car she was in but a few meters away. She Force grabbed onto that part of the ceiling and yanked it down, catching the standing Sith by surprise and bringing him to the ground. The Sith hit the floor with a thud, but before he could get up, Lena Force grabbed him and pulled him towards her, crashing him through over nine rows of chairs on the left side. As the Sith neared, Lena plunged her lightsaber into his skull, killing him instantly.

She dashed forward, with the intent of jumping up through the hole in the ceiling she had just created, when all of a sudden, a boomerang-like device whizzed past and around her, attached with a sharp metal string that was now around her neck. Before she could react, she was yanked backward by the neck towards the back of the caboose where she was previously.

Lena hit the wall, now in a painful stranglehold by another Sith who was outside and behind her, choking her through the now broken window. The Sith Warrior, with vastly superior physical strength held a tight grip on the thin cable, Lena was desperately trying to break free of.

As her vision faded to into blackness he whispered into Lena's right ear: "_Gotcha…_"

"They know we're here," said the True Sith Captain, the only blue skinned Sith in the crowd standing above the train. "You two…help Grysy handle Verado. The rest of you, time move your ass."

"What about Trek?" said one of them.

"We'll deal with him," said the Captain.

The rest of the squad lifted the compartments and dropped inside the train in different cars, splitting up into two teams surrounding the cargo hold. Their landing caught everyone in the crowds by surprise but they quickly put the entire crowds in stasis, so to silence the inevitable screams. The two squads ripped open the doors to the hallway that had the cargo hold in it.

"What the hell happened to you?" they heard Trek say.

"They've got her..." replied Revan.

"And now we've got you too," said the Sith Captain. Revan looked behind him to see the Captain along with two other True Sith behind him. On the other side, where Trek and his men were came five other True Sith. "And may I say…it is a pleasure to meet you…Revan."

"Revan! _You're_ that guy I've heard so much about?" said Amicus Trek looking back at Revan. But before anyone could say anything else, HK-47's voice was heard.

"Interjection: Silence…meatbag." Even Revan expected HK-47 to say more, but instead, the droid aimed the blaster at one of the True Sith behind the Captain and pulled the trigger. Miraculously, the blaster caught that warrior by surprise and dropped him to the floor dead in a split second.

"Seize them!" yelled the Captain as he Force grabbed HK-47, but Revan back-flipped across the floor and kicked him in the abs before he could thrash the droid around. HK-47 landed on his feet, but the Captain was not hurt at all, given the rock hard core strength he possessed. The Captain threw a punch at Revan's face, but Revan ducked, sliding between his feet behind the captain, and bringing a newly ignited _Heart of the Guardian_ straight up, slicing the other warrior right in half. The Captain turned and was just barely able to block a second swing coming at him from _Mantle of the Force_.

The room exploded into a brawl. Trek's men were no longer concealing their positions. They stood up and began firing at the Sith, mostly the ones on Trek's side of the room. Revan was vigorously fighting the Captain one on one, ferociously going at it like wild bomas.

"HK!" yelled Revan as he broke off a clash with the Captain. "_Get the goods out of here!_" Trek and the others were too busy to notice what the droid was now doing, but Revan couldn't help him out either. The Sith Captain was far too fierce a warrior to let his attention go somewhere else. But Trek and his men were having trouble themselves. The commandos were firing high powered thermal lasers at temperatures high enough to incinerate the thickest of skin, weapons even the Sith could easily die from, should they be hit in the wrong place. Three other Sith were in a slightly immobile position, given the concentrated fire at their position with the goal of pinning them down.

One of them, taking cover behind a crate began meditating, channeling his own energies into the two Sith that Trek was taking on at the same time.

* * *

"What the hell is going on down there?" Yuthura asked as she came into the cockpit, where Dustil and Cassandra were. "The Captain should have called in by now. The _Ebon Hawk_ was now flying along the path of the train, but was not directly over it yet. From their distance, they could not see the True Sith who were previously riding on top.

"Statement: Come in Tertiary Masters, this is HK-47. The cargo bay roof is now open, and the crates are ready for pickup."

"You heard the droid," said Yuthura. "Bring the ship over and open the ramp." Dustil nodded. "HK," continued Yuthura through the comm. "Where are the others?"

"Answer: The Master is currently under the highest of his combat protocols. Location of the Secondary Master is unknown. I stand ready with the cargo."

"Copy that HK," said Yuthura. "We're on our way."

* * *

The Captain kicked Revan in the chest, sending him flying back through the door and into the previous cabin he was in. Revan kick-flipped back up, just barely able to block the next swing from the Captain, who was now beginning to push him back. "First time fighting us isn't it…" he said with a smile and in a taunting tone. "Not so fun right…?"

Revan made no response, but threw another sidekick at the Captain's left knee. The hit stopped the Captain for a split second, and Revan Force pushed him back. The Captain crossed his arms and braced as he skidded back a few feet. "_Get back in the cargo hold_!" sneered Revan.

With the Force, he picked up a chair and hurled it at the Captain. The chair hit the Captain in the face, making him bleed in the teeth a little bit, but his position was not changed. Revan charged again, the Captain lifting his sword high to strike.

"Keep the others pinned!" yelled Trek as he ducked two simultaneous blows at his chest from the two Sith he was fighting. Trek had in his hands, two batons that could extend into swords, or sais. At this moment, he had them as two sais. He slashed one of them across the chest of one Sith, which did next to nothing to kill him, but it did allow Trek to back up a little, giving him a little more space to fight them.

Yuthura came to the open ramp, as the _Ebon Hawk_ glided down, now only a few inches above the train as it was moving at full speed. HK-47 opened the roof of the cargo hold. Everyone inside could feel the high winds that were throwing the lighter boxes around. HK-47 picked up the first box despite its immense weight and threw it up. With the Force, Yuthura caught it, and brought it to the ramp. With the help of T3-M4's gravity generator, they pulled the box to the back of the garage. After another ninety seconds, they had loaded the other two big boxes.

"Alright HK!" yelled Yuthura in spite of the howling air resistance. "Come on!"

"Negation: Not while the Master is in danger. Wave off for now. HK-47 out." The droid blasted another True Sith in the chest, as it came out of cover, but it was not enough to kill him. The Sith warrior merely groaned, but before it got back into cover, Trek's commandos took turns shooting him in the face multiple times. HK-47 turned and headed towards Revan's location.

Dustil pulled the _Ebon Hawk_ up and away. "Stay close to the train," said Yuthura. "They may need our help. Cassandra, see if you can pick up Arren Kae's location."

"I'm not familiar with this ship's computer, but okay…" she said innocently.

As HK-47 exited the cargo hold, he fired another quick blast backwards, barely even taking aim. As if it was hitting its intended target, the laser hit one of the Sith that Trek was fighting in the knee. As the Sith stumbled, Trek whipped the sais out, blocking two single blade thrusts from both of them. Trek lunged forward, plunging each sai into the throats of both Sith at the same time. He stabbed them both, digging them deep and bringing them both down to the ground. He pulled them out, leaving the dead Sith to soak in their blood puddles.

"Give them nothing!" yelled Trek as he put one of the batons away and switched the other to a long sword. "I'm going after Revan."

* * *

Revan was now five cars behind, and still vigorously taking on the Sith Captain. _Heart of the Guardian_ had been lost, rolled into a corner in that room, but Revan was still wielding_ Mantle of the Force_ strong. Revan kicked the Captain in the knee and spun around with another kick to his face. The Captain hit the floor, and rolled back to his feet. Revan summoned _Heart of the Guardian_ back to him, but did not reignite it. He merely clipped it to his back, beckoning the Captain to make his move. The Captain responded by unleashing a storm of red lightning at him. Revan blocked the lightning with _Mantle of the Force_, with no struggle at all. The Captain persisted, unleashing more and more, but none of it got past the lightsaber. Revan was slowly moving forward, letting _Mantle of the Force_ continue to absorb the lightning. However, the lightning also surrounded the area, now hitting HK-47 in the torso. The droid cringed slightly but backed up enough to avoid the blast. HK-47 fired three blasts, at the Captain, still shooting the lightning in Revan's direction. But without even looking, the Captain dodged the blasts, still not letting go of the lightning he was unleashing.

The Captain ceased the lightning from one hand and twisted it around towards the droid. With very little energy, he Force pushed the droid backwards, till it was no longer near them. As HK-47 stood up, Trek sprinted past him. "Go help my men." Trek said. "Revan and I got this!"

The droid had no time to argue, despite how much it hated taking orders from someone other than Revan, but it obliged.

The Captain ceased the lightning and raised his foot. He stomped the ground, rattling the entire train, and sending forth a shockwave, but Revan was prepared for it. He leapt into the air with a flip, coming down to the Captain. The Captain raised his sword high, blocking _Mantle of the Force_, but as Revan came down to strike again, a sword plunged into the Captain's torso from behind. The Captain let out a furious roar, but was not dead yet. Trek stood behind the Captain and yanked the sword out. The Captain, still standing, gave a sharp turn to face Trek, but as he turned, he extended his rear leg for a roundhouse kick, and with the power of the Force combined with his raw strength, he knocked Revan straight to the side, sending him crashing out the window and out of the train. The Captain was wounded from the stab, but not out of the fight yet.

From the high speed train onto the hard sand of the desert, Revan bounced and bounced off the ground, somehow still holding onto _Mantle of the Force_, though it was deactivated. The force of impact had him rolling and rolling, the friction burning holes through his pants, and the red sand giving his Heavy Exoskeleton Armor a new hue. Revan scowled and groaned as he slowed down and was able to recover. He could feel the searing pain all over his body. It was a somewhat creepy thought in his mind for a split second as to how difficult True Sith really are. He had killed one, catching by surprise and cutting it in half, but if he could not defeat the Captain, how could he possibly defeat the Grand Sire? But Revan shook off the thought before it could manifest into anything else. The priority was getting back on that train.

At this point, the train was far ahead of him, and Revan knew nothing of the fate of HK-47 or his new friends whose names he still did not yet know. "Revan to _Ebon Hawk_! Revan to _Ebon Hawk_!" he yelled, still clutching his chest and sides in pain. "Come in!"

"Revan?" Cassandra asked Dustil, when recognizing his voice. "What's that? Another nickname for the Captain?"

Dustil ignored her. "Standing by," said Dustil. "You okay?"

"I've been thrown out of the train," he said. "I see you, double back and pick me up!"

"Copy that," said Dustil. "Hang tight.

From a distance, Revan saw the _Ebon Hawk_ make a sharp u-turn and head straight for him. He began running forward, waving his ignited lightsabers in an X-formation to get their attention.

* * *

By this time, nearly all the civilians on the train were dead, their lives sucked out of them by the True Sith to heal their wounds. The Captain himself cleared two full cars to close the wound in his chest. The ones who were alive were still in stasis and never stood a chance.

"_I'm out!_" yelled Garrisson, the rest of them still trying their hardest to keep the other Sith pressed. From behind the crates, the Sith were hurling boxes around the room, trying to hit them, but none were successful. Another had unleashed a storm of purple lightning in the room and was now pressing forward.

"Statement: Allow me," said HK-47 as he began blasting the head of the True Sith covered in the aura of his own lightning. His blasts did nothing, but Garrisson rushed forward and with the butt of his gun, bashed that Sith to the ground before he could channel the lightning at him.

"Garrisson to Commander Trek!" he yelled through his communicator after taking cover again. "We're holding but not for long!" They received no response. "Damn it!" yelled Garrisson. "Keep them pinned!"

But what they did not know was that amongst the three Sith left standing, only one of them was actually there. The other two had retreated slightly and gone up to the top of the train again. From there, they began moving backward to find Trek.

* * *

"You sure this is a good idea?" asked Yuthura. "I mean…it's a little crazy."

"I'm not abandoning them," said Revan while sitting in his swoop bike. "Dustil, bring her lower!"

"Lowering!" yelled Dustil from the cockpit.

The _Ebon Hawk_ dropped a little lower, still behind the train, but not too far. Thankfully, that dreaded tunnel the train was rapidly approaching was not in sight yet. Revan revved up the swoop bike engines again. With thumbs up from Yuthura, Revan accelerated and zoomed straight off the ramp and onto the surface of the planet on the swoop bike. The _Ebon Hawk_ pulled up higher again.

"We'll give you real time intel on the train," said Yuthura through the comm.

"Got it!" said Revan. Both of his lightsabers were back on his belt, and Revan sped up that bike with the prototype accelerator. One good thing was that during the journey into the Unknown Regions, he had modified it so that it could now run faster and for a much longer time before he would face the threat of it exploding.

After a minute of constant acceleration, the bike was now travelling faster than the train, and Revan was catching up to it. The train took a light right turn but Revan followed in a straight line. Within minutes, he was alongside it. Looking to his left, he found the car where Trek was fighting the True Sith Captain. The Captain was still alive and angry as ever. Revan also saw two other True Sith come from behind Trek. Even though Trek already knew, Revan had to help him out.

Revan pulled out _Heart of the Guardian_ and plunged it into the train while still riding alongside it. The bronze lightsaber smashed the windows and metal that was in his path, as Revan continued catching up to where Trek and the Sith Captain actually were. As he pulled _Heart of the Guardia_n out, all eyes were on him for a moment. Revan switched off and stowed the lightsaber, and then grabbed the Sith Captain with the Force, pulling him out of the train, smashing him through the partially broken window. When the Captain was out of the train, Revan grabbed his leg with his left hand and veered off more to the right.

Revan slowed the bike just enough to let the train pass him again, with one hand on the leg of the Captain, and his other hand on the controls. With all his physical energy, Revan violently slammed the Captain down on the red sand, and dragged him on his face. As the Captain was screaming and howling in pain, his face scarred by the sand, Revan sped up the bike again.

The tunnel was now in sight. It was taking all of Revan's strength to do this, but the Captain needed to die, and with the exception of cutting one in half, Revan did not know how to effectively kill a True Sith. All he knew was that this was definitely going to get that job done. Revan moved back to the left as he saw the train enter the tunnel. Even though Trek was probably doing fine now, HK-47 and the others were still in danger; not to mention, he still had no idea where Lena was.

Revan veered more to the left, passing the track again. He lifted the Captain, who was still alive but barely breathing at this moment. Half the Captain's face had been burned off from the friction, and his upper torso was now the same color as Revan's armor. Switching hands, Revan slammed the Captain down on the other side, this time, dragging him again and grinding his face across the metal rail of the track.

"_First time with your head on the tracks isn't it…not so fun right?_" Revan yelled to the Captain, but the Captain was too busy screaming in pain to care. As Revan approached the tunnel, he lifted the Captain in the air and let go as he entered the tunnel. The Captain was let go, his position just to the right of the tunnel's entrance. As such, when Revan let go, he was slammed at full speed into the rock wall, his head crushed instantly. If that wasn't enough to kill him, some more rocks came down from the force of impact and buried the Captain alive.

* * *

In the front of the train, the human driver was still operating the train with the True Sith guard behind him. "Bravo team, are you in position?" he said through his communicator.

"Yes," came the voice. "Orders?"

"Turn this track into an upward ramp," snarled the Sith. "The Captain is dead. We're bailing…" the Sith screamed as Trek came from behind and stuck his sword straight through his chest from behind and pulled upward.

"No…no wait!" yelled the driver, but Amicus Trek mercilessly brought his sword down and sliced off his head. He pulled the body from the chair and chucked it out the side. "Rocha, start slowing this train down!"

* * *

Revan was now inside the tunnel. "Dustil! Do you read me?" he said.

"What's up?"

"I'm inside the tunnel, right behind the train. HK-47 is still aboard and I've got to get to him out of there. Is there any activity going on at the other end of the tunnel?"

"Standby Revan," said Dustil. "Going to check…and yes. I see three True Sith outside the train…they look like they're manipulating the tracks to destroy the train."

"How?"

"I uh…"

"C'mon Dustil, talk to me!" said Revan.

"Wait, I think I know," said Cassandra. "They just severed part of the track and they're pulling it upwards. Yikes, how do they do that?"

"They're going to send that train crashing from the air," said Dustil.

"How far out are they?"

"A good distance, but that train's coming out of the tunnel now."

"Acknowledged," replied Revan. "See me?" As he said this, Revan exited the tunnel, now right behind the train and picking up speed.

"I see you. The train is slowing down, but not fast enough. It's not going to stop before it goes off that ramp.

"I'm going to pass the train," said Revan. "Tell Yuthura to get on the gun and take those Sith out! I'll keep them distracted. HK, do you copy?"

"Answer: I am at the ready master. All Sith meatbags eliminated. Our supposed allies are in control of the train and are in the process of slowing it down. Shall I exterminate the civilian meatbags to save them an uglier death?"

"Negative," said Revan. "Get back into the cargo hold and signal Dustil to pick you up. Get the hell off this train!"

"Acknowledgement: Yes, Master. I shall make haste."

"Dustil!" yelled Revan again. "Bring the ship low and pick HK up. Is Yuthura on the gun?"

"I'm here Revan," said Yuthura, now talking to him from the bottom gun.

"If you have a clear shot of any kind, you take it!" said Revan. "I'm ahead of the train. "Dustil, when you've picked up HK, bring her forward near the ramp. I'm going to put this swoop bike back into the garage."

"You uh…what?"

"You heard me," said Revan. "Get her in position."

"Copy that Revan," said Dustil. "I see the droid. Lowering the ramp." HK-47 jumped off the train and grabbed onto the ramp. The droid pulled itself up and quickly manned the other turret.

Revan was now ahead of the train moving fast. The True Sith near the tracks had just finished turning it into a ramp. If that train would go off that ramp, it would be sent into the air, and would crash back on the tracks into a metal heap, destroying everyone. Together, they started throwing rocks at Revan's bike, apparently unaware of the _Ebon Hawk's_ presence nearby. Revan swerved the bike around, dodging the boulders that were flying at him. As another rock came his way, he stopped it with the Force and then hurled it back at the Sith, but his target dodged it. As Revan neared him, he saw the other two get blown away by the _Ebon Hawk's_ turrets. Yuthura and HK-47 went overkill, consistently firing at their bodies to ensure that they were dead.

"I'm in position Revan," said Dustil. "Slow your bike down."

Revan made no response, but he did so. As he slowed down and neared the ramp, he Force lifted the final True Sith into the air and held him there. The Sith was fiercely struggling to break free, but Revan had gotten used to the hold. Revan ignited _Mantle of the Force_, and as he passed the Sith, he sliced the saber horizontally across his torso.

Putting away the saber, Revan slowed down the bike even more, itching his way closer to the ramp. As he looked behind him, he noticed that the train was following closely behind, but not slowly enough to not go off the ramp.

"Wait!" said Cassandra to Dustil. "He'll hit the bottom of the ramp! You're too high! Bring her down a few inches!" Dustil did so without arguing.

Revan noticed this change. "Ready!" he yelled to Dustil.

"Go!" Dustil yelled. Revan went off the ramp, his bike flying through the air, headed straight for the garage, which was positioned perfectly, thanks to Cassandra's meddling. As soon as Revan was sure the swoop bike would make it, he leapt off with a back-flip. The bike crashed into the garage, almost into the cargo boxes, but it was a slow impact that did not damage them.

"What the hell is he doing!" Cassandra yelled. But Dustil made no answer for it was soon clear what he was doing. Revan landed on the train on top of the cargo hold and started running towards the front. The train was almost at the ramp, but Revan channeled all of his energy into a single blast that he set forward towards the ramp. The power of the Force allowed him to push the track back down to the surface right as the train passed over it.

"Whoa!" said Cassandra, as if Revan's previous actions on the bike had not baffled her perception of him already. It had taken the power of three True Sith working collaboratively to get that train track off its hinges and up into a ramp the way it was, and that drained them quite a bit. With a single blast of raw energy, Revan undid their work just in time to save the train. Revan didn't collapse, but his heart was still pounding and he could still feel the adrenaline flowing through him. But he was now very much worn out. He opened the nearest compartment and dropped back into the train. Trek was waiting for him when he landed.

"You're trained in the Force…" said Trek, restating what he already know. "And you killed three Sith by yourself, including the Captain…"

"Yeah," said Revan slightly exasperated. "Apparently you are too." The both of then laughed a little bit, but Revan was a little too tired to laugh hard. "So…about the part where you're supposed to save my life?"

"Probably better to say that you saved mine," said Trek. "I mean, yeah maybe my being here prompted you to do some of those things, but that Captain was a lot tougher than I expected. I've killed hundreds of Sith before…but I'm not sure I would have made it out of here alive. My men and I owe you a great deal."

Revan chuckled to himself again. When he first met Bastila, this was almost exactly how it happened. It involved a swoop bike going at crazy speeds, and it involved a massive brawl in which Revan and Bastila saved each other's lives. Bastila killed the leader, but Revan picked off the others. In this scenario, it was like his position was switched. Revan had killed the leader, but Trek had killed far more Sith than he did, and it was Trek's meeting him that ultimately resulted in both their lives being saved. And now Trek was claiming that Revan saved his life as opposed to him saving Revan's. He could not help but to be amused.

"Forget it," he said. "Now if you'll excuse me," he said. "I need to find Lena."

"She won't be here," said Trek. "A small branch of that squad left the train from the caboose before the fight started. My men found one dead Sith in there, some kind of clean hole through his skull, and also this…" Trek tossed Revan a thick green garb. Revan looked at it to see that it was the Mutaki Adept Robe that Lena was wearing.

Revan checked the pockets, and the robe certainly had Lena's scent. Revan clutched the robes and closed his eyes, reaching out with the Force to find her. But he was too tired and drained of energy to extend his motion beyond the planet of Tryton V. "They have her again…"

"Why wasn't she with you when you came to the cargo hold?" Trek asked.

"Doesn't matter now, does it?"

"I guess not," said Trek. "Now…most people, after losing someone close to them would be too emotionally ridden to talk business. But I've got a feeling you're not most people. So I'm going to need you to come with me."

Revan smirked. "I imagine since you planned meeting me here, you've got a retreat of some kind. Bunker?"

"Even better," said Trek. "My fleet is orbiting one of Tryton's moons under the radar. I'm going to signal a pickup. If you want your crew to come along, tell them to transmit the _Ebon Hawk's_ ID signature to the _Hammer of Judgment_. I'll give the order to pick them up and extend our hospitality."

"You know my ship's name," said Revan. "You've got me at one hell of a disadvantage."

"The name's Trek," came the response. "Amicus Trek…"

"Kraxis Rebellion?" returned Revan with a furrowed brow. Trek nodded.

"Information is my specialty," replied Trek with a smirk. "Along with killing Sith and pissing them off. I can explain this in better detail once we get to the _HOJ_. Let's go."

* * *

_Back on the Ebon Hawk…_

"All scans show, they're still on the train," said Yuthura. "Cassandra, did you find anything on Arren?"

"No," she said. "She's not on that train; that part I know. They must have got her beforehand. Maybe Revan will know more?"

"Yeah maybe…" Dustil paused and sunk his head. "Ah shit…" he said. He looked at her and she smirked back.

"She was bound to figure it out sometime," said Yuthura.

"Yeah well…the whole, him calling himself Revan and then you calling him Revan, like you forgot I was around sort of gave that away," said Cassandra. "As did that quite ridiculous stunt on that bike. Explain to me how he did that?"

"Eh," said Dustil. "I would but…" He looked back and Yuthura shook her head. "It's not my call. I'm sure Revan won't be mad that you know his real name…after all he did have a hand in giving it away."

"So what's your name then?" Cassandra asked. "Or is that not your call to make either?'

"No no, my name really is Dustil, and her name really is Yuthura."

"And the person I'm looking for? Considering the fact that I'm looking for her…you might want to at least give me that information."

"Sorry," said Yuthura. "We're not at liberty to say. If Revan says it's okay, we'll tell you, but right now we need to get in touch with him."

"I'm on that," said Dustil. "Revan, do you copy?"

"Yeah," said Revan. "Lena's gone. Sith took her."

"I was going to tell you something like that," said Dustil.

"Save it. I want you to take the ship up into space, and transmit the _Ebon Hawk_'s ID signature to the _Hammer of Judgment_. They will be picking you up."

"That's not part of the plan," said Dustil.

"It is now."

"What about you?"

"I'll meet you there. I've got my own ride.

"Alright," said Dustil, still a little perplexed by Revan's comments.

"One more thing," said Revan. "Tell Cassandra, I've found the KR's."

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this double premiere of Part IV of "The Prodigal Knight". Happy April Fools Day! Our goal is to have this story finished by end of June, and we are well on our way to accomplishing it._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	33. Chapter 32: New Alliances

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

Chapter 32  
**

**New Alliances

* * *

**

Revan, Yuthura, Cassandra, T3-M4, and Dustil stood on the bridge of the _Hammer of Judgment _with Commander Trek. They had just gotten back from Tryton V, the cargo still in the garage of the _Ebon Hawk_ along with the slightly dented swoop bike. HK-47 was still in the ship, under Revan's orders. None were to come near the ship or the cargo, in case they had to make a bolt. They witnessed the operations of this tiny yet magnificent fleet their apparent rescuer beheld.

"Status report!" Commander Trek yelled from the forefront of.

"Primary systems good to go!" one crewman yelled.

"Secondary systems good to go!" yelled another.

"Engine room report says we're golden!" yelled Rocha.

"Reconfiguring the settings for one last calibration!" yelled Veggs.

But bolting was a last resort. Revan already had a slight degree of trust that he felt towards Trek, given the effort he took to get onto that same train to try and save his life from a True Sith ambush. However, what Revan also did not tell anyone was that after looking at Trek enough, he actually recognized him. This was the individual Revan saw and now remembered from the dream he had so long ago while the _Ebon Hawk_ was in the Crispin Asteroid field, breaching the Unknown Regions. This was the man who eyed the Grand Sire in the castle, the man who led the attack, and the man who stood with Revan, staring upon the dead Grand Sire. All in the dream suggested Trek was the good guy, and compiling that with Trek's recent actions made for a higher thermometer rating.

"Done!" Veggs said after a few minutes.

"Commander, report from the rest of the fleet. They're good to go," said Archie.

"Good," said Trek. "Chart course for Shikara, through the Crescent Pass. We're taking the long way. Saww, take the bridge."

"Thank you sir," said Archie with a salute. "You heard the man! Set course for the Crescent Pass and make the jump! Double time!"

"Come," said Trek. "Unless you'd like to see us jump to hyperspace…"

"We've seen it all," said Revan.

"Not me," said Cassandra. "I've only seen hyperspace from the perspective of the _Ebon Hawk._ Could we…" Revan nodded.

The hum of the hyperdrive was getting louder and louder. In another minute, the stars stretched out into starlines, and the _Hammer of Judgment_ blasted off into hyperspace, followed by the rest of Trek's fleet.

Trek sighed. "Well, now that we are safely away in the tunnels of hyperspace, not to reemerge for another day or so, what say we get acquainted?"

"I'm all for acquaintance," said Yuthura.

"So this is the Kraxis Rebellion," said Dustil. He looked over to Cassandra. "Oh dear, I hope I'm not awakening any evil spirits by saying this…" Cassandra merely smirked and rolled her eyes without looking back.

"But now we've got three boxes full of Sith computer gear, but no skills to use it," mentioned Yuthura.

"Forget about Gunthamore," said Revan. "If we have time, maybe we'll drop them off, but…"

"Oh believe me," interrupted Trek as he began walking from the bridge, beckoning them to follow. "You won't want to be going back to him…not after he ratted you out to the Sith."

"So that's how they knew we were coming…" said Revan. "How did _you_ find out?"

"That's something I'd prefer to show you," said Trek. He opened the door to a large conference room, and moved the table and chairs to the corner of the room, with the exception of five chairs.

They sat down, and Trek pulled a small holorecorder out of his pocket. It was of the last meeting Revan, Lena, and Cassandra had with Gunthamore.

"_OH!" Gunthamore exclaimed. "That reminds me. There's another small catch. Swords and blasters are strictly forbidden on the train; droids are okay, but no weapons. So…you know…try not to engage anyone."_

"_Alright," said Revan. "Now it's REALLY more fun."_

"_You can still do it for free if you want," said Gunthamore with another smile._

"_Well we'll be on our way then," said Revan. "Who and where is your client for delivery?"_

"_Just bring them here," said Gunthamore. "I've got another team to ship them out."_

"_You got it," said Revan. "See you when we've got the goods."_

"_Greatly looking forward to it," said Gunthamore. "And you my dear," he said to Cassandra. "I'll call in a few favors and get you something. Just keep that uncle of yours in line."_

"Sound familiar?" asked Trek. "This is what happened in Gunthamore's office a few seconds after you left."

"_Did you get that?" Gunthamore asked._

"_Yes," came the somewhat grim reply. "Your services are greatly appreciated Gunthamore. We won't forget it."_

"_Happy to help," answered Gunthamore. "Now where's my money?"_

"_It has already been wired to your account. Our business is concluded. Goodbye."_

"Devious son of a…" Cassandra was going to say more, but innocence seemed to hold her tongue. "To think _I _actually trusted him."

"We all did," said Yuthura.

"Oh how I hate it when people do that…" said Dustil. "Would you mind if we took a slight detour so I can kill him?"

"Get in line," said Revan. His attention turned back to Trek. "Care to explain this?"

"This was him," said Trek. "I am 100% positive this was him. There was a rumor of allegations against Gunthamore on Averst about six weeks ago for violating the transparent communication laws…something about detecting unofficial and deliberately encoded transmissions from his office. But of course…no one could prove that he was doing anything wrong, so the charges were dropped. But that got my attention, so I bugged his room a few days later. Turns out, my instincts were right."

"So what are you going to do?" Revan asked.

"I'm going to keep him alive for now," said Trek. "He's a conduit for information. When he isn't of use anymore, I'll cut his head off."

"Unless someone beats you to it…" said Dustil, but one look from Revan and he closed his mouth.

"Speaking of which," said Revan. "You told me that information is your specialty and the Sith really don't like you, given how many of them you've killed. Mind elaborating on that?"

Trek thought for a moment. "I take it that you've never heard of me." The others made no reply. "The name is Amicus Trek, Supreme Master and Commander of the Kraxis Rebellion."

"Revan mentioned that," said Cassandra. Revan looked over to Cassandra and then looked over to Yuthura like he was curious as to how she knew his real name. "I've been trying to find you for a long time."

Trek smiled. "Cassandra Vesta right?" She furrowed her brow at first but then responded with a nod. Now Revan wasn't the only person curious as to how someone knew the real name. Trek gave a deep sigh. "Your brother, Clieve Vesta was one among us, and a fine warrior. He showed me a picture of his family, which is how I recognized your face."

"What do you mean…_'was'_" Cassandra finally asked. "I haven't seen him in three years, or heard from him in two. Where is he?"

"See," said Trek with another deep sigh. "This is the part I was trying to stall…I'm not very good at doing this." Trek paused. "Your brother...was killed in action." Cassandra's expression was motionless and expressionless, as if waiting to hear for more. "He was one of my best pilots…took down a squad of fighters, and then took down a Sith dreadnought all on his own. Most of his systems were knocked out when the Sith clipped him with an ion blast. We tried to save him, but he flew himself straight into the bridge just as we had knocked out the dreadnought's shields. That single handedly turned the tide of the battle."

Nobody else said anything, but merely looked at Cassandra. She buried her face into her hands. A slight whimper could be heard, followed by another scattered set of them, like tearing hiccups. Trek coldly leaned back a little in his chair, rolling his eyeballs. Dustil stood up from right next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. As his hand touched her, she ran from the room, her head still partially buried in one hand. Dustil took a step to follow...

"Dustil," said Revan. "Let her go." Dustil obliged and sat back down with a sigh.

"So in your case, I take it all that uncle brain tumor stuff wasn't true I take it you found out about us through the girl and then…decided to take time off for a trip to Kraxis?" Trek asked, eager to change the subject.

"Pretty much, yeah," replied Revan.

"If you were going to try and seek us out by going to Kraxis, you wouldn't have found any headquarters there."

"Why not?" Revan asked. "Isn't that usually how planetary rebellions work?"

"Yeah," said Trek. "But we can't afford a stationed base. The Sith are too powerful. The only way to elude them is to keep moving. So this is our base."

"Convenient," said Revan. "But that obviously means this rebellion is either bran new or meager at best in terms of strength."

"It's meager," said Trek. "But you don't have to command leagues of troops to get the attention of the Sith."

"What _do_ you need?" replied Revan trying to keep the conversation going so that Trek could tell him more.

Trek looked at Revan suspiciously. "What exactly is your beef with the Sith?" he asked. "You were planning to take a journey pretty close to the heart of their empire to find us. Why do _you_ want to bring them down? And just as important, why are they after you?"

"I should ask you the same questions," said Revan. "I'll tell you a partially true answer…then after you're done talking, I'll judge whether or not to tell you the whole truth. The Sith are a thorn in my kind of business."

"You mean like when you found out Frinch had a bodyguard?" Trek said somewhat snarkily.

Revan smirked, and Dustil and Yuthura exchanged glances again. "Information really is your specialty."

"Well that one was actually me going there with the intention of killing him, which I did, but I found a bomb in his basement and a security recording of you, Lena, Vesta, and that hunter killer droid leaving the compound a couple hours before."

"So you're the one who killed Frinch," said Yuthura. "His family and his house too apparently." Trek nodded.

"Yeah, we sort of…took credit for that," said Dustil. "Got us paid."

"Long story short, that information led me to you," said Trek. "Though it does make me curious. You've probably noticed that I can use the Force, and I'm pretty good with it. But I also noticed that all three of you can use the Force…especially you," Trek looked at Revan and smiled. "That was one of the best kills I've ever seen, by the way."

"What?" said Revan. "The thing on the bike?" Revan shrugged his shoulders. "That train was the first time I killed Sith. Besides cutting them in half, I didn't know they went down. I had to make sure."

"Well you sure as hell made me jealous," said Trek. "But that was kind of the point that I was getting at. You can use the Force…yet you're an enemy of the Sith. As far as I know…the Sith are the only ones who train humans who bear that kind of potential. _Especially_ your kind of potential," Trek looked back at Revan. "They'd be blind if they couldn't find you when you were young."

"Or perhaps someone just got to me before they did," responded Revan, still trying to play off that he was born here. Ironically, it was actually true that Revan was born in the Unknown Regions, but the True Sith never found him.

"Still," said Trek. "Sith powers don't impress me anymore, but to see a human do what you did…that was impressive."

"What?"

"You pushed the track back down to its place," said Trek. "It took the collaborative effort of three Sith to get it up…that kind of power doesn't reside in too many bodies except for those at the top of their food chain."

"Alright," said Dustil. "Normally I don't interject like this, but there's clearly something you're not telling us, and you're beating around the bush in telling us."

"Don't worry," said Trek. "_Normally_ I'm straight to the point. But if I'm going to disclose to you what I know, I need to know who I'm dealing with."

"Who _you're_ dealing with?" Revan said. "We're not idiots…so get to your point."

"Fine," growled Trek. "My point is this question…where did you get those weapons you use?"

"Lightsabers?" Dustil asked. "You mean this?" He pulled out his lightsaber.

"If that's what you call them," said Trek with nodded. "All of you carry them…and apparently so did Lena."

"We built them," said Revan.

"Where were you taught to build them?" Trek asked.

Revan's expression became perplexed. He was not confused at all, but he still wanted to try and hide the fact that he was not from around here. "I don't understand that question," he lied. "We taught ourselves."

"Really…?" said Trek as if trying to pass off like he was buying it. "Because…this is not the first time I have encountered that weapon."

Yuthura and Dustil exchanged glances again. T3-M4 said nothing, but Revan kept his eyes focused on Trek, waiting for him to say more.

"In fact…" Trek reached into his backpack and pulled out Jace Myrther's single hilt weapon. He stood up and pressed the button, activating the silver and white blade. "It's a neat little cutting tool," he said, waving it around. "Seems like one of those weapons you could dance with."

"If I could ask," said Revan. "Who did you get that from?"

"Oh it doesn't matter," said Trek. "He's not being interrogated right now, and I'll lay off for a while."

"You were interrogating him?" said Yuthura.

"Does that mean you know who he is?" asked Trek. "He calls himself Jace Myrther. Heard of him?" Everyone shook their heads.

"I'd like to meet him though," said Revan.

"I can arrange that," said Trek. "If you'll come with me…"

"You two, go back to the Ebon Hawk; see if she's alright," said Revan to Dustil and Yuthura. "T3, you're with me."

Trek, Revan, and the astromech droid proceeded down the hall and went one floor down the stairs. The staircase hallway was much wider than the usual military ship staircase Revan was used to seeing. There were only eight dreadnoughts total, including the _Hammer of Judgment_…but enough of a crew and more to put up a hell of a fight.

They turned left to the interrogation chambers. "Bear in mind," said Trek. "I still don't trust him…or you for that matter. Considering the hell that _I_ put him through, he might be a little unstable, but he's alive. The Force in him has been sedated and he hasn't spoken a word in two weeks. You and your droid can go in; I will be watching from this side of the glass." Revan nodded and opened the door. T3-M4 followed.

Jace was sitting in the corner, fully soaked and clutching himself, trying to rub warmth to his chest. He was shivering and breathing heavily and his head was down. He looked up at Revan and the droid as they entered. Immediately, Jace stood up, shook himself a little bit, and sat back down in his chair, as if to expect another round of interrogation. He looked up at Revan with a fearless face.

Revan furrowed his brow a little bit. He took a minute to study Jace. The first thing he could tell was that Jace was surprisingly very difficult to read. Jace had a fearless face, though he certainly wasn't fearless. He seemed to have adapted very quickly to the interrogation, despite how inhumane it probably was. Revan had a million different questions in his head at this moment. Why and how did he get his lightsaber? Was he familiar with the Jedi Order? Why was Trek torturing him? Those were a just few of them and he had no idea what to ask first.

Jace was motionless, his eyes transfixed on Revan, waiting for him to make his move. "Relax," said Revan eventually. "I'm not here to interrogate you. I'm not even part of this fleet." Jace said nothing, but waited for Revan to continue. "I'm here because Trek…that dark guy with those razor scars on his face brought to my attention, a particular…trinket of yours. I'm here because I know what it is you carry. You carry a lightsaber, the weapon of the Jedi Knight, not as clumsy or random as a blaster; the more elegant and civilized type of weapon."

Jace's eyes were now focused elsewhere, as if to hint that he was getting bored by Revan's remarks. Revan noticed this and acted upon it. "I know this because I have one as well."

Revan pulled out Heart of the Guardian and ignited it. From the _snap-hiss_ came the shining white and bronze blade. Jace's eyes immediately went back to Revan. Revan went even further and demonstrated Form V – Djem So. He would have done Form II – Makashi, but it was always much more impressive with a curved hilt, a green lightsaber he had back at the ship and not on him. Jace crossed his arms as he watched Revan perform with the skills of perfection.

"I guess that_ is_ a weapon you dance with…" Trek said somewhat sheepishly to the other man in the area behind the one way mirror, as they were both watching as well.

Revan finished and switched off his blade. "Impressed yet?" he said. Jace slowly shook his head, still not changing his expression. "Didn't think so," said Revan. "You can probably do this just as well. And I imagine that after the hell you've been through…it'd take a lot more than that, right?" Jace didn't respond, knowing it was a hypothetical question. "I haven't seen that kind of torture since I fought the Mandalorians," said Revan. Jace looked up at him again. Revan smirked. "You should have seen that pig captain after I was done with him.

"Believe me when I tell you that everyone has a breaking point," continued Revan. "I'd rather them not do that…but I have very little power in this matter. What I _do_ have…is the potential to appeal to one like you, because if you tell me something worth telling, I may get a little more power in this matter to help you out. From one Jedi to another…you might want to start talking."

Jace lent a deep sigh. Revan chuckled slightly, shaking his head and turned to walk out with T3-M4.

"Lies…" came the word from Jace.

Revan turned back around.

"Wow…" said Trek from the other room. "I really didn't think that would work."

"You're not a Jedi," said Jace. "You're an ex-Jedi…like me. Aren't you…Revan."

Revan raised his chin and gently rubbed the back of his head. "You know my name," he said. "Anything else you want to tell me about? For instance…how about you tell me what an ex-Jedi like you is doing all the way out here?"

"Who's asking?" said Jace. "You? Or them?"

"Me," said Revan immediately. "You sparked my curiosity; it doesn't matter that they're listening in."

"Well I can ask you the same question," said Jace.

From this moment, Revan knew exactly what Jace was doing. Jace was trying to read him, and Jace was somehow very good at it. That is how Jace was able to figure out that he was speaking to Revan. The hint he gave before was too ambiguous to logically narrow it down. But Jace wasn't that good; and now that Revan had figured it out, it was quite easy to resist him.

"You know," said Revan. "It's not polite to try and read someone's thoughts without their permission."

"How the hell did he do that?" said Trek to the other. "_I thought we sedated him!_"

"We did," said the watch officer. "You want me to give him another dose?"

Trek thought for a moment. "Actually no," he said. "Let's see what he does."

Now Jace was angry, and Revan could see it. Jace slowly stood up in his chair, breathing heavily. "I'm tired of this damn game," he said. "Fine…you want to know what I'm doing out here? Why don't you ask your friends back there? It's not like the truth matters when you know what you want to hear."

"And what the hell does that mean?" replied Revan.

Jace sighed with a mild whispered laugh. "When no one is alive to remember your name, and you don't want to be found, where else do you go?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Revan in a cold sarcastic voice. "How about _not here!_"

"Like I had a choice!" said Jace. "I had to backfire my accelerator compensator to get away from the Sith at some place called Kraxis.

"What!" yelled Trek as he stormed into the room.

"Yeah, you were there too," said Jace. "I heard that brief communication between you and the Sith; and then they detected me so I had to bolt. Got stranded out here…and received the warmest damn welcome a man could ever hope for."

"And you didn't tell me any of this…_why!_" yelled Trek.

Jace laughed. "You ain't all that accustomed to listening. It was pretty easy to figure out that you already made your conclusion and it wasn't worth my breath trying to change your mind."

"Yet it was worth your breath to endure _my_ interrogation!" yelled Trek.

"I had nothing to tell you," said Jace. "You just didn't get that."

"I intercepted a Sith transmission that a 'fugitive' was out here. I get here, and I find you with your ship completely inoperative. When someone's hyperdrive is in the kind of shape yours was in, the reason is usually deliberate sabotage. _And_ you can use the Force. So do not even _think _to blame me for this! You brought this on yourself!"

"No…" interjected Revan. "If the kid's story is true, then the Sith brought it upon him. And he _is_ telling the truth."

"Stay out of this Revan," said Jace, his voice matching the coldness of Revan's. "Thanks for the vouch, but you have no idea what I'm going to say and I'd appreciate it if you'd let _me_ say it."

Revan backed off, but began thinking to himself again.

"What I was going to say…" Jace looked at Revan again, and then back at Trek. "I'm not actually that pissed off at you."

Revan was bewildered by Jace's comment. Was Jace actually saying that he was okay with all the torture Trek put him through? The poor young man was barely functional at the moment, and he didn't seem to have a care. Revan had to say something. "I'm sorry…" he said. "What!"

"I don't believe I stuttered," snarled Jace.

"Well good," said Trek. "I guess that concludes our business. I'll just give you back your things and send you on your merry way. We did fix your ship."

"Not just yet," said Jace, stopping Trek from moving. "I'm surprised. You aren't interested in my reasons?"

"Not really, no," said Trek. "I've got better things to do."

"Yeah well, _I'm _interested," said Revan. "Feel free to leave the room to just Jace and myself, if you really want."

Trek smirked. "Well played Revan."

"Revan was right," said Jace, tilting his head toward Revan and back. "The Sith did this to me. They killed my master Quatra and my whole family…" Revan wanted to interject and ask about Quatra, but Jace stuck his hand up to stop him. Revan furrowed his brow at Jace, now understanding why Trek was so impatient with the kid. Then again, Revan understood that the kid deserved to be heard after all this, but he was rather snobbish, especially given the position he was in. Did Jace not recognize the bad position he was in? Did he not realize that either of the two could kill him with the snap of a finger? Maybe he did and just didn't care.

Nevertheless, Jace went on. "They set me on the run, and I wound up in the damn Unknown Regions. Then the Sith crippled my ship, one thing lead to another, and I wound up in your custody. I don't blame you for interrogating me; I just think you're an idiot."

"If I could just mention something," said Revan. "These aren't the same Sith…"

"I know," said Jace. "But I really don't care. Sith are Sith."

"So about Quatra…"

"Yeah, you know her?"

"I know her student, Juhani…" said Revan.

Jace nodded, now remembering Quatra telling him about how he saved Juhani from the dark side on Dantooine.

"If you're both done rambling," sneered Trek. "I've got a proposition." Revan and Jace stopped talking and gave Trek their attention. "Myrther, maybe you don't hold a grudge against me, but I'm not even going to bother asking you to join me. Revan on the other hand…"

"Why not?" interrupted Jace with an air of annoyance. "What makes you think I wouldn't?"

"I suffered you to the pain of hell," said Trek. "I'm glad you're over it already, but how am I supposed to trust you?"

"The enemy of your enemy is your friend," said Jace. He looked at Revan. "Right?"

"Not always," said Revan.

"Maybe in your little world," said Trek to Revan. "The kid's right. But you didn't answer my question. How am I supposed to trust you?"

Jace shrugged his shoulders. "How do you trust _any_ of your men?"

This comment infuriated Trek. He aimed a speedy punch at Jace's face, but Revan caught Trek's hand. Trek squirmed his hand out of Revan's grip. "Back off!" yelled Revan.

"Hey Jace," said Trek. "You remember when I told you to dampen that smell of attitude about you?" Jace nodded. "Revan won't always be there to stop me from chewing off your back. _Drop_ the attitude…I mean it!"

"You might want to adhere to that," said Revan to Jace. By this point, Revan knew that he had been changing sides a lot. He just wanted both of them to cool off, so he could think of a way to resolve all of this. Jace did not want to leave and Trek did not want him to stay. Jace obviously had some Force training and was _very_ difficult to read. Revan figured that would make him useful, but he did not want to bring him on the _Ebon Hawk_. Jace had a ship for himself, and though Revan had no love for the little punk, he certainly appeared to have some uses. Revan wondered if Jace could be an asset against the True Sith in a way that would make Trek appreciate him and give him a new home.

Jace looked up at Revan, but didn't say anything directly to him. "Fine, whatever; you want me to prove trustworthy?"

"If you can," replied Trek. "But usually it's a waste of time."

"Not necessarily," said Revan, finally unclogging his thoughts. "Can't you tell this kid's pretty angry? Let me make you a deal. _I'll _calm him down; you take Jace and I with you on your next mission, just the three of us. If the mission is lethal and he survives, he's of use. If not…then it's not like you're going to care."

Trek smirked. "I was going to take you anyway," he said to Revan. "But this rookie?"

"What's the mission?" Jace asked.

"Above your pay grade…?" But both Revan and Jace looked at Trek, so the stubborn Commander conceded. "Alright, fine. We're going to Shikara."

"That prison planet?" said Revan, only knowing that because of Lena's story.

"That's the one."

"Why?"

"There's a squad of scouts under my command held up in one of the prisons. They were doing some recon work on Becton. The Sith caught them and disarmed them before they could react. I'm going to get them out. And I'm bringing _you_ with me…" Trek pointed at Revan. "It's our best shot in figuring out where Lena is."

Revan nodded. "Thanks."

"So it's hostage rescue," said Jace cracking his neck. "I can do that."

"Yeah right," snarled Trek. "You couldn't even avoid detection from the Sith when listening in on a simple conversation on an open channel."

"I fixed that problem," said Jace. "You didn't touch the computer in the cockpit of my ship, right?"

"No report about it," replied Trek, shaking his head.

"Well good because I hacked the mainframe and used their technology to build my own firewall. I also synced that programming into my watch, so I can do the same. Assuming it's still…"

"No, that one we smashed," said Trek. "It was around your wrist when we got you right?" Jace nodded. "Yeah that thing is gone."

"Fine; let me in my ship and give me access to your labs. I'll make a new one before we get there."

Trek scoffed. "You really want this…"

"Can't you tell?" Jace said with a smile.

Trek smirked again. "Initiative…I like this kid now. Alright, I'll do that. Oh yeah and…here's your lightsaber back. Bear in mind…I'll still be keeping an eye on you, and if you double cross us in the prison, I _will_ kill you."

"For the record," said Revan to Jace and about Trek. "I believe him."

"Me too," said Jace. "And I won't."

"But let's make one thing clear right now. This is _my_ fleet, and this is _my_ mission. Therefore, we do things _my _way. Is that understood?" They both nodded. Revan still had in the middle of his mind, his vision of Trek as an ally. And now that he had looked at Jace long enough, he recognized him as well. Jace was also in Revan's dream, as the kid who was riding with Dustil and conversing with him while in the air. It was the blond haired kid in the padawan robe.

Trek continued. "Myrther, when you are finished making yourself a new watch, you are to report to Medical _immediately_. You will remain there until the mission begins. They'll get you cleaned up and fully functional again. Revan you got your ship and kitchen…yeah."

"If we're done here," said Revan. "I need to check up on my crew."

"They seem loyal to you, so I'm holding _you_ responsible for them," said Trek. "Keep them leashed."

"Don't worry about me," said Revan. "Now if you'll excuse me…" Revan didn't even let them say any more. He left the room. Trek and Jace left the room at the same time and then went in different directions.

* * *

Revan entered the _Ebon Hawk_ and found Cassandra sitting in his swoop bike, still crying a bit. Dustil was beside her with his arm around her. Cassandra's head was leaned up against Dustil's shoulder. Revan nodded in approval at Dustil as he moved past. With the new resources she had, Yuthura was also in the garage, tweaking the design of the workbench to make it more efficient and able to give automated assistance to creating items out of metal components. She was too busy to even notice that Revan was back, but Revan didn't care.

It was the longest shower Revan had taken in a while, considering that his Heavy Exoskeleton Armor was still pierced and punctured in several large places from the hard sand and rocky impact. He had also discovered several minor wounds on his skin as well that he had not noticed before.

The armor was useless to him now, until he could find a way to fix it. Revan had been fairly conservative on the kinds of items he kept with him. Obviously, the armor he wore didn't matter anymore in terms of hindering his ability to use the Force, but it had been a thought slowly creeping up in Revan's mind that seemed to hit him now, while he was feeling the awkward discomfort of civilian clothing.

With Lena captured by the Sith, even if she didn't talk, it was not like they didn't know Revan was now in their territory. With Trek's next mission, he was going to engage them head on in their own prison with the intention of finding Lena. And even though Trek didn't trust him yet, Revan knew that eventually he would and that he had already secured a new alliance.

The box Vandar Tokare had given him with his old Sith Lord trademark armor was in the secret compartment in the Cargo Hold. Revan had deliberately neglected to wear it long back because of his skepticism that persisted even as Vandar gave him the box. But with his other most comfortable, durable, and intimidating armor nearly destroyed, the possibility seemed to present this as a new option.

But Revan had some other backups, all hung in his private closet. Some of the best armor, he had given as gifts to the others in his party during the Quest for the Star Forge. Though Mission had one, Revan also had an extra Baragwin Shadow armor, which was very comfortable but more for the stealth missions, given the unmatched power of its stealth field generator. Ironically, the armor was a glaring bright red in plain sight, which always amused Revan. But even though he was going into a True Sith prison, stealth wasn't exactly Trek's style. That much he could already tell, seeing the man in action. "_Trek would more likely choose to not waste an opportunity to stomp over Sith heads during his way through and prefer an all out fight to sneaking around,_" he thought.

Then there was the Environmental Bastion armor; something that he had never actually worn yet. But that armor was less suited for combat and more for spelunking and exploration, given its durability and resistance to extreme cold and hot temperatures as well as a sonic and toxic-resistant shield. That didn't seem right for this mission either.

It was a bit disappointing now that Revan had given a lot of the other well crafted armor out to his party members. Canderous had the full Mandalorian set, as well as the suit and pistol of Cassus Fett. Though it was also one of Revan's favorites, Carth had taken Calo Nord's armor, as well as a few of the other different heavy suits. Mission had all the stealth armor, as well as Davik's war suit. Purple was after all her favorite color, and Revan smiled at the thought.

Revan sighed and approached the secret container with no haste whatsoever. He entered the code: Red-47 and it opened. There sat the box and Revan was looking at it. He felt as if it was almost staring back at him, mocking his hesitation. His eyes were transfixed on the box again, just like the last time he looked upon it. The first thing he took out was the black and crimson obsidian mask he knew so well. The mask was terrorizing to look upon, even for the man who once wore it. Revan felt the weight of it and brushed his fingers on the outer surface. On the inside, it was much softer and more comfortable.

A small part of Revan hoped for a Jedi Master to walk in at that very moment and begin lecturing him on why _not_ to put that armor on, but this was by far his best option as a substitute for the Heavy Exoskeleton Armor.

"_It has no doubt seen many battles and will serve you well in the future if I guess right." _Those were Vandar's words to him on the day he met Lena when he was given that box.

But Revan also remembered himself not wanting the box. Vandar had said something else to him, anticipating his hesitation. _"…you must come to terms with your old life if you are to move on. Do with it what you will but all I ask is that you take it, and in so doing, accept your past."_

He looked past the mask to see the armor very neatly organized in the box, and then back at the inside of the mask. He hated himself for actually thinking about doing this. It obviously didn't mean the same and it was not the armor that turned Revan to the dark side; merely a work of alchemy to respond to the Force indiscriminately. But that did not take away all the dark deeds he had done under that mask and inside that armor.

Revan sighed again. "_Temptation…_" he thought. "_It is encumbering…_"

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight". Happy April 15th, the infamous Tax Day. Hopefully this chapter will cheer you up.  
_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	34. Chapter 33: Of Action and Patriotism

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

****Chapter 33**

**Of Action and Patriotism

* * *

**

It was on the forty-fourth floor of the Battlestar Senate Office Building in the political Capitol on Coruscant.

Carth Onasi sat in the center table in front of a panel of Republic Senators in a committee hearing. To his left was Admiral Dodonna, and to his right was Bastila Shan. Behind him was a large audience, all of them well dressed and eager for the hearing to begin. Carth was dressed in his handsome navy uniform, proudly wearing the rank of Commodore. Admiral Dodonna wore the matching uniform with five stars on her shoulder. Unlike her usual ridiculous outfit, Bastila was dressed in a set of iron and polished Jedi Knight robes, and also wearing high heels for the first time in her life. It hurt her feet like nothing she had ever felt, but she tried her best not to let it show. The panel of Senators was present with the exception of the subcommittee chairman.

"All rise for the Chairman!" bellowed Ranking Member Siv Tarkin of the Conservative Party and representing Reecee. The chamber rose as the chairman walked in, and sat down immediately after the chairman took his seat at the very middle. The members of the Liberal Party majority were to the right of the Chairman, and the members of the Conservative Party minority were to the left.

"_Remember…_" Bastila spoke to Carth through the Force. "_Remember Juhani's advice. Smile. And don't swear…ever!_"

There was complete silence in the chamber as Chairman Burric Plexico, a Liberal from Rattatak began his speech. "Let the record show, this is the first official testimonial hearing of the Military Ethics and Appropriations Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, pertaining to the question of Commodore Carth Onasi's promotion to the honorable ranking of Rear Admiral Lower Half. I welcome everyone to this hearing, and I greatly look forward to the decision making process after this hearing is completed. Have you anything to add Mr. Ranking Member?"

"Indeed Mr. Chairman," said Tarkin. "I too would like to welcome everyone, including Admiral Dodonna and Jedi Knight Bastila Shan. It is an pleasure to have you with us today. For the benefit of all others who are here and unaware of political and military procedures, the rank of Admiral is given only to the most distinguished and honorable members of the navy with an impeccable record of service and leadership skills.

"This is not a job that one can apply for. One must be recommended by an incumbent Admiral and seconded by another. That is when the long…and if I might add tedious official process begins. But to even be here before this committee is an honor in and of itself, and that is what we in this subcommittee are here to determine by the coming hearings. The hearings will go on for as long as they have to, and we will not be the only subcommittee in the Armed Services Committee to do this. I yield the rest of my time back to the Chairman."

"Thank you," said Plexico. "And now, I give Commodore Onasi the floor. Your opening statement Commodore?"

"_About damn time…_" thought the subject in question.

Carth took a second to clear his throat and then spoke. "Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Tarkin, and honorable members of this subcommittee. It is indeed an honor and a privilege to be here before you. To tell you the truth, I knew I'd have to make this statement, but I was not entirely sure…what to say. After all as Senator Tarkin mentioned, I had nothing to do with the early process. It has been my dream since my youth to serve in the Republic Navy and I don't think that ever in my earlier career did I believe myself to one day be sitting here before you.

"My father always told me that greatness never came from humble aspirations. It came from humble attitudes and hard work. I have striven to be the best at what I can be. I believe it is for my service and experience, that I am worthy and ready to have earned the responsibility of an Admiral. I look forward to receiving your questions and discussing the relevant issues with you all. Thank you."

"_Well done,_" said Bastila through the Force. "_Keep your wits about you. This is going to be a long day._" Carth looked at her and nodded.

"Thank you Commodore Onasi. For this hearing, each Senator, with the exception of the Ranking Member and myself, will have one question and one follow-up. I will begin, followed by the Ranking Member, and then we shall alternate between the majority and minority. Unless we have any objections, I move to proceed with the first question."

"I second this motion," said Senator Hroth Kerr, a ranking Zabrak Liberal from Iridonia.

"We have a second to this motion. Is the witness ready?"

"Commodore Onasi is ready Mr. Chairman," said Bastila.

"Alright; let's begin," said Plexico. "Commodore Onasi, there has been speculation raised by a number of our colleagues that the Republic is not as strong as it can be, in that we got lucky from that recent surprise attacks on our worlds. What are your thoughts on this, and who do you believe is ultimately responsible?"

Carth took a deep breath. "Well my thoughts are that it's a fact. I think that we ought to be past the point of speculation and more to the point of action. Let's look at the root of our problems. We're still bleeding from Malak's wounds. Taris is still ground zero; we can't deny that we had a lot of military and economic investments there. As we have seen recently, our defense grid is vulnerable; the Sith are still at large and have embraced a kind of warfare that we have never before seen. If we are to protect our interests, I believe that we must fix these problems.

"I believe that the recent reforms passed through the Senate, shifting the method of fleet movements in the middle and outer sectors were a step in the right direction, but it doesn't completely fix the problems of inefficient allocation and frivolous wasting of valuable resources we could be using to rebuild the Republic and help the people. That problem can only be fixed through adequate implementation. I don't believe in passing or shifting blame. I believe in responsibility and action."

"Very good," said Plexico. "As an Admiral, you would indeed be a large part of the implementation of this procedure. Please discuss with us how you would go about doing this and what the Navy needs."

"_Remember,_" said Bastila to Carth through the Force. "_Talk about resources._"

Carth took another deep breath. "Indeed, that would be a responsibility to take to heart," he responded. "In this particular time, the question is not how much _more_ the Navy needs to get the job done. What matters is how we use what we have. In times of relative peace, we ought not to be the priority for spending. Page 366,174 of the new law marks the beginning of Naval procedures, in that the fleets will be standing by to respond immediately to an emergency as indicated by the intelligence teams and will always be nearby to do so. However, the system still isn't perfect; as I perceive it as a two dimensional reactionary model. It puts reliance almost solely on the intelligence HQ's to intercept emergency broadcasts, which obviously aren't perfect. Not to mention, we have such a large navy with so many fleets at our command, we ought not to have them deployed in a 'wait and see' mode. Small crises almost never require more than two fleets; not to mention, the Sith who are still out there aren't looking to attack us with standing armies and massive fleets. They've been striking from the shadows and coming out by surprise, as do most skilled adversaries of the Republic. What we ought to have are several fleets with their own mobile intelligence teams actively augmenting the search for the enemies wherever they are; to act as a safety net and possibly prevent another attack from happening. I think of it as a three dimensional model of action."

"Alright," said Plexico. "I just have one more question and then I'll pass it on to Ranking Conservative Tarkin, who at this moment looks quite eager to get his two cents in. Clearly you are well rehearsed for this hearing; which I'm happy to see, but I am wondering about your familiarity with the political process. After all, much of what happens in the military us up to _our_ jurisprudence, and as an Admiral, part of the responsibility is to act as a liaison. Are you comfortable with this?"

"Yes sir," said Carth in as bold a tone as he could usher. "Absolutely; I believe Admiral Dodonna has taught me well." Carth and Dodonna exchanged smiles.

"Well I'm certainly glad to hear that, and I feel quite optimistic about this so far. Senator Tarkin, the floor is yours."

"Thank you Mr. Chairman," said Tarkin. Unlike Plexico who was full of smiles, Tarkin took on a very serious and more hardened demeanor. "Commodore Onasi, your impressive record indeed is evidence that you are a patriot and a man of action. As impressive as your answers were to the chairman's questions, I do wonder if you are equally prepared to answer questions about your past."

"_He's screwing with you,_" said Bastila through the Force. "_Keep the light smile, but don't be intimidated._"

There was a light pause. "Well?" said Tarkin.

"I'm sorry Senator, I didn't hear a question," said Carth with as little sass in his tone as he could manage.

"Alright," said Tarkin, as if noting the sass. "Who is Saul Karath?"

"He was the head Admiral of the Republic Navy during the Mandalorian War and the aftermath. He was my commanding officer for the entire war, and my mentor as an officer of the Navy. One year into the Jedi Civil War, he defected to the Sith…killed on the bridge of his flagship, _Leviathan_."

"Would you say that Karath's defection was a betrayal to you?"

"He didn't just betray me Senator; he betrayed all of us. As a point to prove his loyalty to the Sith, he nearly destroyed Telos under orders from Darth Malak. Telos, and the Republic suffered a tragic loss at his hands."

"And it is true that your wife Morgana Onasi was a casualty of the Telos bombings?"

Carth's smile decreased and he took a light sigh before answering. "Yes sir."

"And is it not true, that you were ultimately responsible for Admiral Karath's death?"

"If memory serves," replied Carth. "It was indeed the shot from my blaster that killed him."

"Was this killing in cold blood?" asked Tarkin.

"No sir," said Carth. "The mission of the Star Forge did not require us to engage Admiral Karath or the _Leviathan_, but they intercepted the Ebon Hawk and captured us. The fastest way to the hanger was accessible only through the bridge, and Darth Malak was on his way, so we didn't have time to take the long route. I believe our debrief recordings will specify that."

"Indeed," said Tarkin. His jaw twitched a bit. "I watched those recordings; it is quite convenient that the circumstances of the mission worked out in your favor, is it not?"

"Convenient is not at all an adjective I would use to describe that mission sir," replied Carth.

"With all due respect to the Ranking Member," Plexico interrupted. "Senator Tarkin, will you please get to your point? The other Senators are patiently waiting."

"Mr. Chairman, this is a subcommittee for military ethics and appropriations, for which I am the ranking member of. I am merely tackling a concern of mine that falls under that category. My objective is to get to the truth, and I humbly request that I not be interrupted again."

"Take a shortcut," commanded Plexico.

"Very well," said Tarkin with an air of irritation. "Commodore, my time is stretched thin, so I will boil my concerns down to something simpler than semantics.

"As I mentioned earlier, I watched those debriefs in full, and I detected what I consider a troublesome pattern in the answers for everyone. When asked about you, they remarked very highly of your devotion to their well being as well as your devotion to the mission. Bastila Shan, Mission Vao, and even Canderous Ordo even went as far as to say that they trust you with their lives. However, every single debrief also mentioned that throughout the mission, you didn't trust anyone, and that you…_don't_ trust anyone. Perhaps their trust in you is justified, but in most other cases, trust works both ways and the rank of Admiral is no small trinket of power. Given your history, what makes you worthy of _our_ trust?"

"That is an excellent question Mr. Ranking Member," said Carth. He took another deep breath. "The blatant truth of the matter is that Saul's betrayal to the extent that it went hit me harder than anything had ever hit me before. He was my mentor, and one of my best friends outside the Navy. I looked up to him almost like a superhero. When he was but a Captain, the defense cordon around Suurja that he designed proved effective in holding off the Mandalorians long enough for the Senate to take action and to evacuate military and civilian personnel off the stations. It was through his actions that prevented early defeat when he led the charge to kick the Mandalorians off of Iridonia as I'm sure Senator Kerr is familiar with. Saul's leadership carried us to amazing naval victories at Dxun, Althir, _and_ Malachor V. His naval strength was half the reason we won the war…and half the reason Malak did as well as he did.

"When Saul betrayed us, it was pretty personal when he killed my wife. I had lost everything; and for so long, I could not help but to blame myself for trusting him in the first place. If I hadn't trusted him, I thought, maybe I could have prevented this. Maybe I could have saved Telos, and saved the other thousands of lives that the Sith destroyed under his command. It was only after travelling with Revan that I realized how foolish such thoughts were. There are certain people we will trust who will later prove to be unworthy. It is not our fault for trusting them; it is their fault for betraying that trust. But I will tell you this, Senator." Carth took another breath and looked Senator Tarkin in the eye. "I have _never_ swerved my loyalty or born false witness to the Republic; and I _never_ will."

Tarkin spoke nary a word for a few seconds, to make sure that Carth was finished. His jaw twitched a bit once again, dissatisfied with the answer, but knowing that everyone else was now happy.

"_Well done…_" said Bastila through the Force again. "_It's going to be a long few days, but you've successfully navigated through one minefield. Keep it up, and remember; I will be with you every step of the way._"

"Senator Kerr, the floor is yours. Go ahead."

* * *

_Back on the Hammer of Judgment…_

The Kraxis Rebel fleet dropped out of hyperspace a good distance from Shikara, under the orders of Commander Trek. This planet had one of the best defense grids in the entire True Sith Empire and though Trek had a plan to penetrate it, it required stealth and surprise. At the distance they were, no radar would detect them, though even that would not guarantee their safety.

Shikara was a planet that flourished with True Sith civilization. Much of the concentrated wealth in the True Sith Empire, that which was not for the purposes of the capitol city, was brought there. More importantly however, Shikara was home to the Sith prison system. The hard rocky environment underground, far from the fault lines, was difficult to forcibly penetrate, but could withstand any outside storm. As such, they were invested by the Sith for a planet-wide prison network.

It was here where Lena Verado was taken in her very first encounter with the True Sith. They brought her to Shikara from the Dxun jungle while she was asleep and brutally tortured her for four years. It was here where Lena broke free of the Force's will, and subsequently broke free of the Sith's capture. Since losing her on Tryton V, Revan wondered if the Sith would risk bringing her back here, or if they would bring her to some other top secret underground facility somewhere else that he figured they probably had.

The defense grid consisted of six heavily armed stagnant space stations, four for the main compass directions, and then two above and below. There was only one Sith dreadnaught in the area, but only because the stations had dozens of fighter squadrons. Shikara was a stronghold, its defenses inferior only to Becton and the Sith capitol on Voss.

Trek was in his private chamber, looking at the underground prison schematics. He had narrowed the location of the squad to three connected sectors, which was an approximate radius of five hundred kilometers. It was not good enough, but it would have to suffice. As Trek loaded his guns and equipped his grenades, Archie Saww entered and saluted his commander.

"Is the _Jackknife_ on the move yet?" Trek asked, ignoring the salute.

"I just gave them the go-ahead," said Archie, putting his hand down. "Took a while for the _Vendetta_ to transfer the nexus though…"

"Whatever," said Trek, clipping the last grenade to his belt. "This fleet isn't designed as efficiently as it could be…but we'll get the job done."

"Sir, if I may…" but Trek cut Archie off before he could continue. Trek pulled up another schematic of the planetary grid.

"As soon as the _Jackknife_ makes contact with the patrolling ship, move in. Our target is the south station; approach vector one seven decimal two eight. And tell Commander Rainer that I don't want the _Pincer_ worrying about jamming the station's comm. units."

"Yes sir," said Archie.

"Is Myrther ready to go?" asked Trek.

"Surprisingly yes," said Archie. "The kid healed a lot faster than we expected. He's still not a hundred percent, but he says he's ready."

"We'll find out soon enough," said Trek. "Let's go."

Trek and Archie took the elevator one level down to the bridge of the ship. As they entered, every one stood and saluted.

"As you were," said Trek. "Status report on the _Jackknife_!"

"They've gone dark," said Garrisson.

"Good," said Trek. "What's the ETA on that ship?"

"Twelve minutes or so…"

"Sir if I could just…" said Archie, but Trek cut him off again.

"Saww, get that message out to the Rainerand put me on screen with Commander Jono. Sergeant Garrisson, where's Revan?"

"No idea sir," replied Garrisson. "Should I send someone to fetch him?"

Trek shook his head. "Don't bother. I need all hands on deck for now. Revan doesn't show in the next six minutes, _then_ send someone after him."

"You're on screen with Commander Jono," said Archie.

Trek turned to his left and saw Lieutenant Commander Jono of the _Spear Tip_. "We are at full battle ready Commander," said Jono.

"Good," said Trek. "You have the details of the mission. The _Spear Tip_ and the _Pincer_ will dock with the station and take it. I have given Commander Rainer jurisdiction over the station until my mission is complete. They'll take care of the station; it is your job to support them and be prepared for a missile attack from the ground."

"What's the prisoner policy?" asked Jono. "It wasn't in the briefing."

"Standard," said Trek. "Take the high command alive; kill the rest."

"Acknowledged," said Jono with nod. "You sure you don't want one of my teams down there with you?"

Trek shook his head. "This is a three man op…we'll be fine. Until I return, Lieutenant Commander Saww is in charge."

"Sir! Sith warship nearing the range of the _Jackknife._ They'll be caught in the trap in twenty minutes. You better go now!"

"The minute that ship hits the nexus, move in!" yelled Trek. "Revan here yet?"

"Right behind you…" Trek turned around, but no one was there.

In a flash, Revan appeared from the stealth inhibitor into plain view. Trek furrowed his brow at Revan's new outfit. It was not his old armor, but the Baragwin Shadow armor, with the Baragwin stealth inhibitor as his belt. His lightsabers were X strapped on the back of the belt as usual, with Mantle of the Force on the inside and Heart of the Guardian on the outside.

The Baragwin equipment Revan was wearing was the most advanced stealth inhibition system in the galaxy. Not only did it make one invisible to radar, but with the sound dampened as well as the air pockets decompressed, it was nearly impossible to see one cloaked even while the person was moving.

"You ready?"

"Yeah," said Revan. "I've told Dustil to prep the _Ebon Hawk_. If your fleet needs them out there, he'll lend a hand."

"I'll keep it in mind," said Archie.

"What about that other purple skinned twi'lek?" Trek asked.

"Yuthura is coming with us," said Revan.

"Is Myrther ready?"

"Just got a word!" Rocha yelled. "He cleared the Med Bay. He'll meet you in his ship."

"Alright, that's it; we're a go!" said Trek. "Saww, the bridge is yours. Good hunting!"

Trek and Revan left the bridge and raced to the elevator. They took it down three levels and started sprinting again to Jace's ship. Jace and Yuthura were already sitting in the front two seats strapped in and ready to go. Jace had moved his computer from the cockpit to the Med Bay, where he could continue fiddling with it whenever he could.

"We're invading Shikara with _this?_" laughed Revan.

But Trek ignored him. "Myrther! We're aboard! Take us out!"

"Fasten your seat belts," came Jace's reply. Revan and Trek joined Jace and Yuthura in the cockpit and took their seats.

"You never told me the ship's name," said Trek.

"You didn't ask," said Jace. "It's the _Quatra_."

"Clever," said Revan. Jace quickly looked back at them as he started pulling out of the hanger.

"What the hell kind of armor is that?" Jace asked Revan. Trek laughed for a second.

"Stealth…"

"It's bright red…" said Jace. "Where are you going to blend in? Kessel?"

"Just shut up and fly."

"All systems are a go," said Yuthura.

"Where's Kessel?" Trek asked, looking at Revan.

"Spice mined planet, looks like a potato, really far to the east…nothing very interesting there." Trek nodded and reconstructed his focus.

The _Quatra_ was experiencing a dead silence for the next fifteen minutes. Revan occasionally tested the stealth field generator on his armor, disappearing and reappearing in his seat. He had never worn the armor in action before, and he was getting a feel for it. Trek was stretching his limbs and doing crunches in his seat.

"Look," said Yuthura. "The _Jackknife_ just deployed the nexus." Revan and Trek both looked through the window to behold the scenery of inevitable naval professionalism.

The nexus was a very large electric net in the shape of an octagon. The eight hubs located at the eight corners were powerhouses, all of them heavily shielded, but not as shielded as the control point located at the top, manned by a small team of technical operatives. Each hub transmitted three layers of thick rays of purple electricity to the center, which created an even smaller octagon of electric energy. It looked like one massive octagonal power coupling.

On the two side-most hubs were small arms that stretched out for a few meters. At the end of each arm was a thin tractor beam that was activated the moment the power came on. With two tractor beams engaged on the same target, both pulling against one another with equal force so to keep it headed for the electric field, there was no resistance whatsoever. Even a ship as big as the True Sith dreadnaught they were facing could not break free of the hold.

As the dreadnaught was slowly sucked toward its doom, the _Jackknife_ remained stagnant, the crew constantly working to jam the other ship's communications as well as reestablish its own with the rest of the fleet.

Trek closed his eyes and whispered to Archie through the Force. "_Make me proud Lieutenant Commander._"

"I'm sure they'll do fine," said Yuthura, signaling that he heard it. "I've disabled our communications system and engaged the cloaking device. As long as the fleet keeps the Sith occupied, we're as ghosts in this."

"Hands off the goods, lady," snarled Jace. "I'll worry about flying. You just watch radars and act like you're doing something important." Yuthura gave Revan an odd look, but Revan merely responded with a nod that he understood.

But Trek was only half-listening. He, Revan, and now Yuthura had their eyes transfixed on the nexus. Trek knew exactly how it worked, but Revan and Yuthura had no idea what it was designed to do to the ship once it would be sucked in. Revan's only guess was that the ship would be completely disabled, allowing the _Jackknife_ to take it over.

This however, was not what happened. Instead, the dreadnaught went straight through the nexus, making contact with the power couplings. On its way out through the other side, the ship was broken apart into many different pieces and fried everyone inside instantaneously.

Revan's eyes widened, not at all expecting that this would happen. Never had he seen a ship so large disintegrated in that short period of time. He took a glance back at Trek who maintained his cold stare. Then he looked back to see the dreadnaught reduced to several hundred metal blocks. Everyone in the ship was dead, but there were no bodies afloat in space. Those who were caught in the nexus were cooked to perfection. There had been about twenty escape pods that had launched, but the bottom turrets on the _Jackknife_ had successfully destroyed them all.

Revan's curiosity was almost getting the better of him in this case. On the one hand, this was a very dirty and merciless trick that left no survivors and an airspace polluted by debris. He wondered what the purpose was to kill a perfectly good ship rather than take it over. Perhaps Trek was short on manpower, making commandeering impossible. Trek was a bit sadistic, but if he _did_ have the resources, he most certainly would have made use of them in this situation. It was something about Trek he had come to understand; the man was full of hatred and his strength came from his passion and the dark side of the Force, but anyone on his good side, he did treat like an ally, almost diplomatically.

At the same time however, Revan could not help but to appreciate the technology behind that nexus and the strategy behind it. This was a brilliant tool and a very useful one for the struggling rebellion. It would make it very easy to catch one ship off guard and reduce it to nothing, like a metal cutting laser destroying a person from the bottom up. It was also peculiar that this was the only ship on patrol in the area. Despite how strong the defense grid was one would likely think to have at least a few more. He pondered this, but only for a moment, as he noticed the rest of Trek's fleet moving fast right over their heads.

As the _Jackknife_ shut down and packed up the nexus, the _Hammer of Judgment_ took point and charged forward. When the flagship neared the station, it dove downward, its guns firing rapidly at every target it could make. Green lasers from the station and the defenses immediately began bearing down on the shields, each with miniscule effect. With slick maneuverability, it began circling the south station, destroying many of the turrets, but also attracting the attention of the Sith fighter squadrons and defense drones. Immediately behind the flagship came the _Spear Tip _and the _Pincer_. They headed straight for the station, while the other ships entered the battle, dispersing formation as the shooting started.

The _Saber Tooth_, the most heavily armored ship in the fleet boldly threw eighty percent of its power to the front shields and crashed itself head on into the satellite station. The force of impact obliterated the station without as much as a scratch to the _Tooth_. Fighters launched from the station were intercepted by squadrons from the _Hibben Claw, Sonic Boom, _and the _Vendetta_. The green lasers of the Sith were outmatched by the red lasers from Trek's fleet. The _Tooth_ veered to the western side of the station and turned straight to its rear. The guns on the back began firing at every ship launching from the hanger bay that passed the shields. Every fighter that launched was destroyed.

As soon as the _Jackknife _caught up and entered the fray, the flagship ceased its circling of the station, allowing for the _Pincer_ and _Spear Tip_ to latch on. The _Hammer of Judgment_ backed off from the station just a bit and lent support to the _Claw_, which was getting swarmed by ships. The ship was holding out relatively easily with the Sith numbers thinning more and more, but Archie didn't want it to take hits and become easier bait for the reinforcements.

With the remainder of the Sith defensive fighters dispatched with ease, the fleet took a defensive formation around the station and the ground forces of the _Pincer_ took on the station's inner defenses with support from the _Spear Tip_. They did not have as large a time frame, which helped because progress was slower than expected. With the pressure kept up for another fifteen minutes, reinforcements arrived and the firepower overwhelmed the turrets to the command deck.

Lieutenant Commander Rainer stepped into the bridge and ordered the Captain and second in command to be taken into custody onto the _Pincer._ With two platoons on standby at his location, he ordered Jono to take the remaining ground forces and scour the station to plant charges in the reactor core as well as several other key points of infrastructure.

"Commander Saww," said Rainer from the main communications console in the station. "The station's ours."

"Good," said Archie from the bridge of the flagship. "See if you can get your team to remotely trigger the EMP on the other five stations. That'll slow down their response."

"Will do," said Rainer. "Better brace yourselves; reinforcements coming in from all directions. Lot of fighters…"

"Understood," said Archie. He disconnected with the station and yelled to his crew. "This is the first real test of our mettle! We've trained and prepared long and hard for this operation and at this very moment, we are going to do what we do best! We hold…_WE HOLD!_"

* * *

The _Quatra_ came in soft. Revan and Trek had used the Force to haul another ship from its landing spot and send it into space. Once it was safely adrift, Jace took the ship in and landed. The cloaking device remained active as all four of them exited and cut through the door. The landing pad was six blocks away from the building they had intended to enter.

Trek had a schematic of the building, uploaded just in time to track his position. Most of Shikara was civilization, beautiful and majestic in appearance, but they were approaching an arms facility on the northern edge of the capitol city.

"_You sure it's a good idea to be walking the streets, showing your face to everyone?_" Revan said to Trek through the Force.

"_No slums here,_" replied Trek. "_None of this is going to matter…follow my lead._"

They entered the building through the front door, and the human security guards all turned their eyes to them. Trek walked towards them first and the metal detector went off immediately.

"Please remove any metallic items you…"

"Oh shut up," snarled Trek as he grabbed the guard's head and smashed it into his elbow. Revan used the Force to sever the metal detector and smashed it down on another guard. With a leap in the air, he ignited both sabers and swiped off another guard's head. Yuthura pulled a knife from her boot and threw it, killing another guard.

"Security to control, we need…" Before the guard could finish, a laser blast hit him in the head. Yuthura blew the smoke from the barrel and secured the weapon. Revan switched off his sabers and looked behind him. Jace was standing there, his duffel bag still around his shoulder and hanging beside him.

"Gee, thanks for all your help…very much appreciated," Revan said coldly.

"Oh please," said Jace with a smirk. "You didn't need me for _that_. Don't worry, I'll do my part; now let's go.

The main elevator dropped to the third sublevel. The corridors were narrow and the ground was made of dry dirt. It was a combination of light tan colored dirt and sand that surrounded the floors and walls. At the area outside the elevator, there were no guards and no cell blocks. It was merely the most convenient of many entrances into the prison network, a network which spanned the entire planet. With the ID tags they got from the dead security guards, they proceeded through the heavy security zone without incident.

"_Don't you usually kill these guards?_" Jace asked Trek through the Force.

"_Only on the way out,_" answered Trek. "_Revan…disappear._"

Revan nodded and activated the stealth field generator. His body vanished from sight of the naked eye and sonic waves were not even detected in his presence. He was as good as a ghost now.

"We're going to the security mainframe," said Trek. He took out the metal stick he had for a weapon and pressed a button. A longer stick with a mop extended from the end of it. "Anyone asks questions, we're janitors. Anyone asks more questions, well…then we kill them."

Jace and Yuthura smiled and nodded. Revan did the same, even though he knew they couldn't see him.

"And when we get to the mainframe?"

"Take them out fast and quiet," said Trek. Jace smiled and nodded. Revan did the same, even though he knew they couldn't see him.

They moved through the hallways. Guards passed them, but as soon as they saw the broom, they resisted the urge to ask them a question. Two left turns and a long corridor led them to a large room which had imprinted on the front: WARDON SIMNONOVV.

Trek knocked on the door hard. A guard immediately opened it slightly ajar. "Cleaning crew for the security mainframe," Trek said.

The guard opened the door all the way and let them in. Then he pointed toward the security mainframe. Revan made it in just in time before the guard closed the door.

The warden's office was a large room with two levels on it. The second level was merely a deck that spanned the perimeter with a walkway with the mainframe as one room in it. The bathroom was right next to it. On the ground level where they were, was the warden's private chamber in another small room. This room was mostly a lounge with fancy carpeting and comfortable furniture. There was even a small lava lamp in the middle of the room, standing up on a stool as tall as a normal True Sith.

This whole time, Revan and Trek were working collaboratively to ensure that their presence in the Force was not detected by the Sith. With the invisible auras surrounding them, they were able to communicate through the Force.

"_You two, take care of the security mainframe,_" said Trek through the Force. "_I'll kill the guard and the warden. Yuthura, you keep watch after they're dead._"

"_Is that really necessary?_" asked Revan, figuring that in Trek's mind, the answer was obvious. Trek made no response, but waited for them to go. Of course Trek would go a little out of his way to kill any True Sith.

Revan Force jumped up to the deck in front of the mainframe, while still remaining invisible. Jace passively walked up the stairs to meet him. He smirked as he arrived at the door.

"_I'll take these guys,_" said Jace. Revan looked down to see Trek still standing there with his mop. Jace opened the door and saw the two officers in the room. "Good day," he said. "Cleaning crew." The guards nodded.

Revan remained outside, as Jace entered, but fifteen seconds later, the guards frantically ran out of the mainframe as if they were racing each other and deliberately dove over the ledge, their heads crashing on the hard rocky ground. Revan's brow furrowed behind the stealth field generator, but he knew exactly what Jace had done.

"What the…?" said the guard as he turned to Trek. When the guard turned to his direction, Trek wasn't there. A tap on his shoulder made him turn around, and Trek grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder. The guard landed flat on his back and Trek immediately stuck the mop in the guard's face, pressing it down for several seconds.

The security mainframe door was now closed with Revan and Jace inside. Revan stood watch while Jace began hacking the computers.

When Trek was sure the guard was dead by suffocation, he deactivated the mop.

"I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed!" yelled Warden Simnonovv from his office. "What the hell is going on out there!"

"Uh…sir, I think you better see this!" Trek shouted back, doing his best to mimic the guard's voice.

In a few seconds, the Warden stepped out of his chamber with his knife at the ready. He froze at the sight of Trek for half a second, but that was all the time Trek needed. Trek Force pushed the lava lamp that was still standing in the middle of the room right into the warden's face.

Simnonovv shrieked as the glass broke on his skull and the hot liquid splashed onto his skin. He tried dropping and rolling, but it was no use. It was already burning through his flesh. It was a fairly quick death, but Trek smiled as he watched it. As the warden's life expired, Trek thought to himself. "_Lava lamp works nicely against Sith. I need to remember that._"

Revan was watching Jace play with some of the computer settings, trying to access the information database. "_How that boy loves to kill people with his brain…_" he thought. He wasn't sure if Jace had tried listening in to those thoughts, but he would never have put it past him.

Jace was still quite new at getting used to these computers. They were not all too different, but several things that he had taken for granted with computers back in Republic space were either different or non-existent. The computer system seemed, in Jace's mind, horribly inefficient, but somehow the Sith seemed to make it work. Some parts of the technology were indeed more advanced, but it seemed that the system wasn't organized well enough for the purpose of an individual doing whatever he or she wanted to. It may have deliberately been designed that way. Of course, none of that would ever stop Jace.

"Alright, I'm in," said Jace. "Doing a search, I need some information."

"Species: Twi'lek. Skin color: green. Eye color: hazel green. Name: Lena Verado spelled V…E…R…A…D…O," responded Revan as if he had expected the question. Jace typed it exactly and started the search.

Almost immediately, the search came up empty. "What the hell?" Jace murmured.

"What are your parameters?" asked Revan. Jace scrolled up to take another look. "There." Revan pointed at the screen. "Change that; instead of current prisoners, check for prisoner transfers."

Jace switched the parameters and ran the search again. It turned up empty again almost immediately. "That's really weird," said Jace. "If the True Sith have her, then either someone forgot to enter her name or deliberately kept it out."

"Most likely the latter," said Revan. He was no longer making an effort to hide his emotions to Jace. Revan was sweating a little bit and cursing in his head. He was flustered beyond comparison, for it was like he had just let Lena down. Some part of him felt like Lena was still a bit of a teacher and he was failing in his obligations as a student. He was powerful enough to take down mostly any True Sith, just as Lena had shown him the way. She had sacrificed so much and risked her life to protect and guide him. Now she was in trouble, and he could not find her. The mental pain was excruciating.

"You alright?" Jace asked, even though he could tell that Revan was aggravated.

"How the hell did you survive being tortured by Trek?" Revan asked Jace. This question caught Jace off guard, as he was more concerned with Revan than himself.

Jace shrugged his shoulders. "Quatra always told me I had talent in the mind. My physical abilities were my greatest weakness, so I worked the hardest on them, but I've got a natural ability to read people and find their psychological weakness."

"So what'd you do? Find Trek's weakness?"

Jace shook his head. "I just…held out in my mind."

"Fine, different question," growled Revan. "Let's say you were in Trek's shoes and you were interrogating a similarly stubborn individual. If you couldn't break them despite all the physical pain…what would you do?"

"Kill them?" suggested Jace. "I don't really think about these things. Why?"

Revan scoffed a bit. "Lena was captive for years but she didn't break. I'm wondering what they'd do to her, maybe pick up a lead that way."

"Yeah well I can't help you," said Jace. "I never met her."

"What's all this chit chat?" said Trek coming in through the door. "Did you find Lena?"

"Negative," said Jace. "She's not here."

Trek sighed and glanced at Revan very briefly. "Well my men _will_ be here. Run a search on Gunnery Sergeant Rawn Blaik. Spelled…"

"Yeah, yeah I know how it's spelled," said Jace. Trek didn't realize it, but Jace had actually just briefly read his mind to acquire how to spell the name. Jace ran the search, and in a few seconds, a match was found. "Here," said Jace. "Exact spellings match; held with seventeen other men in Davarouz Compound, Underground Checkpoint Q. I can give you the coordinates; I need your comm.'s interplanetary address."

In a few minutes, Trek had given Jace the address and Jace transferred the data. "Alright," said Trek. "Revan, you're going back into stealth and you're coming with me. Myrther, you're staying here and you're going to provide real time intel for us. Yuthura, you're standing guard. You're playing warden while we're gone."

"Sure, as long as I don't get killed by a lava lamp," said Yuthura.

"The fastest way to checkpoint Q is through the delta monorail. It'll take you east for about a hundred klicks. It's on your schematic."

"Good," said Trek. "Revan, let's move out."

Revan hit the button on his belt and disappeared from plain sight again. He stayed close behind Trek as they exited the office, closing the door behind them.

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight". The next two chapters will delve into the background of Amicus Trek as well as a deep analysis of the Sith Empire and the true "Dealings of the Enemy"._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	35. Chapter 34: A Step Too Far

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

**

**Chapter 34**

**A Step Too Far

* * *

**

The battle at the southern station in orbit of Shikara was starting to die down. The station itself by now was clear. The seven levels were patrolled by Commander Jono's men. If any hidden survivor was discovered, they were immediately shot to death and tossed out the nearest airlock. The Sith captain was taken aboard the _Pincer_ and the technicians had gained full control of the stations' defenses, now using them to their advantage. Saww had made it very clear not to destroy the defenses on the station when they were in the process of taking it for this very reason.

The fighter squads that the Sith had sent out were obliterated by the fleet, but the fleet held position. No missiles had been launched from the ground, which was a point of curiosity for Saww, but he ordered Jono to remain watchful of surface activity.

However, down in the prison, the squad in Sith custody that Trek had sweated so much blood over rescuing was very much alive, but in terrible shape. They were tied up in their respective chairs around the room while the squad leader was being savagely electrocuted by a True Sith. His screams echoed around the room, and the rest of the men turned their eyes away from the horrific sight.

"Resisting me does not help you," said the Sith, briefly stopping the sickly red lightning from his fingertips. "Nor will anything but a simple answer."

"You're…wrong," said the frail Gunnery Sergeant Rawn Blaik. "Trek will come for me…"

"Your nuisance of a commander has abandoned you," said the Sith. "You…"

Before the Sith could finish, the door was smashed open and in came Commander Trek. "Good one," he mused.

Before the Sith could act, Trek extended his weapon into a staff and launch kicked him in the face. As Trek rolled over the top of the Sith to his other side, he switched his weapon again from staff to a sai. The Sith turned around, but Trek plunged the sai into his eye. Again and again, Trek grabbed the head and pulled it down into his knee. Again and again, he kneed the sai into the Sith, deeper and deeper, until all three edges were drawing blood from the rest of the face. Trek pulled the sai out and the Sith dropped to the floor in a pool of his own blood.

"Hell of a sight for sore eyes, sir" said the Gunnery Sergeant.

"Let's go," said Trek, as he Force ripped the shackles from all the men simultaneously.

A guard came rushing into the cell. "What's going on over…" But the guard was suddenly struck in the legs and fell backward. He was caught by something before he could land on the floor. Suddenly, the guard's neck was snapped and he was plopped to the floor.

Revan came into vision as he deactivated his stealth field generator. He had a large duffel bag around his shoulder, which he set down on the floor. He opened it up and distributed blaster rifles to all the men.

Trek looked inside the bag after the men were armed. "Surplus much?"

"Shut up," growled Revan. There were at least ten extra rifles in the bag. Revan had no idea how large the squad was.

"Move out!" yelled Trek. Revan went stealth again and waited for the cell to be cleared before he closed the door. The men moved fast and quiet through the cell blocks. Trek had point, and any guard that came in sight was quickly dispatched. The launching point where the arms building had been destroyed by the _Spear Tip_ was almost a hundred kilometers west of this cell block. Jace was still back in the security mainframe of the sublevel, providing real time intel on the status of the guards. They had reached the area through the underground train that connected every cell block. Trek led them all through the corridors and back to the train. As the next one came, Trek put a gun to the driver's head and ordered him to drive the train back to the rendezvous point without a fuss. The driver did so, and Trek kept his hand steady for the full hour and a half. Once the train arrived, Trek killed the driver and proceeded.

"Myrther, we're back and headed to the elevator," said Trek. "What's your status?"

"Everything's good on our end…but there will be a small detail of Sith guards waiting for you around the next corner."

"Why didn't you take care of them?"

"I figured you'd want to," said Jace. "I just told them you were coming and to expect you there. They haven't set any traps if that's what you're worried about."

"Meet us at the elevator." Trek cut the communication thinking to himself, "_Boy knows me pretty good…_" He ordered the men to halt and hold position and then proceeded to turn the corner with only Revan following him in stealth.

"Evening gentlemen," said Trek to the detail that was indeed waiting for him. "Thank you for your patience."

The guards began shooting while the single Sith charged at him. Trek jumped over the True Sith with his sword out. He swung with the leap, but the Sith ducked. Trek ignored the Sith and began slashing the guards left and right. The Sith turned to charge him, but Revan came up from behind and severed both his legs with Heart of the Guardian. As the enemy sunk to the ground, Revan grabbed the top of the head and stuck the lightsaber vertically into the body through the neck. When the Sith's eyes rolled backward, followed by the head, Revan pulled the saber out and shut it off.

The guards were all dead and the soldiers moved up. They made their way to the staircase, where they found Jace and Yuthura. The duffel bag carrying boy was watching as a human guard was smashing his head into a wall over and over again. The soldier's will was not his own; Jace had brought his power of mind-tricking to a whole new level. Yuthura was leant against the wall laughing hysterically.

Revan immediately came out of stealth as he started laughing. A few of the soldiers shared the chuckle, but Trek held his composure. "Are you quite done?" he said.

"Yeah alright," said Jace. "Go ahead."

Trek was still holding his sword. He moved forward and cut the guard's head off. Then he spoke as he sheathed the sword. "Let's go." They climbed the stairs to the surface, where they found the rubble that was from the blast of the rocket that demolished the building. "Nearest Sith hanger bay one klick to the southeast," said Trek. "Hurry up; reinforcements won't be far! Split up! Blaik, take nine of your men that way and secure as many ships as you can or need. The rest of you, come with us! We'll cover you from the air!" Trek tossed Blaik his schematic device.

"Come on!" yelled Jace. "My ship's this way!"

They split up and Trek's group made its way to Jace's ship. When they got back to the top right where the _Quatra_ was, they found the cloaking device shut off and a lightly dressed police officer was writing something on his notepad.

"What the hell is this?" said Jace.

"Is this your vehicle, sir?" said the officer.

"Who wants to know?"

"You need clearance for premium parking. You're getting a ticket."

Jace rolled his eyes. "You have got to be kidding me." Yuthura started laughing again.

"I should kill you right now!" said Trek with fire in his voice as he came up with the other men, their rifles all pointing their weapons at the cop.

"Whoa, whoa hold on there a minute, boys," said the cop, a cold shiver running down his spine. "I didn't find this ship, my supervisor did and he told me to track it and ticket it. I'm just doing my job. If you've got a problem, take it up with my supervisor. He's a Sith named Arkyat and he's at my headquarters. Now please, put the guns down."

"Sith eh?" said Trek. "Well, you sure could have fooled me; I thought you were just a cop. What are you really? Government agent?

"Technically, yes," said the cop. "But it's not what you think…I just give out tickets to ships that violate traffic and parking laws. I carry a stick…no gun. I'm no threat to you boys. Just let me go and pay the ticket…it'll work out better that way."

"Yeah, not in our line of work…it's just too bad," said Trek. "You work for the Sith…so now I _have_ to kill you!" Trek came forward with his sword out again. The cop began to back up a little, but it was no use, as he was heading towards the edge of the platform, which was far too high to be an easy fall. Trek aimed his sword high, but Revan stopped him before the swing.

"Stand down!" said Revan in a forceful tone. "All of you! Stand down! He's no threat to us; let him go."

Trek gave Revan the most evil of all looks, but the cop made a break for it. He ran and slid down the ladder on the other side, sprinting for his life.

"What the hell was that!" bellowed Trek. "Did you just counterman _my_ order on _my_ mission!"

"I'll argue with you about this later," Revan fired back. "Yuthura, find the tracker and get rid of it. The rest of you, let's go!" Trek had more than a few reasons in his head to start yelling at Revan but he kept his composure for now, for he knew that now was not the appropriate time.

"_I'll chew is head off later…_"

While at the same time, Revan himself was thinking, "_He's going to chew my head off for this…doesn't matter._"

Yuthura found the tracker bug on the very top of the ship. She threw it on the ground and stomped on it, shattering the metal chip into shards. The rest of the soldiers cramped themselves tightly, standing up in the cargo hold and single hallway. Jace jumped in the cockpit and fired up the engines with Revan and Trek sitting behind him. As soon as Yuthura was aboard, Jace blasted off into the air.

"Commander, do you copy?" said Blaik on the comm.

"We're taking off now, what's your status?" replied Trek.

"Hanger bay clear; we're stealing Sith fighters. Which ship do we dock with?"

"Dock with the _Pincer_," said Trek. "I'll radio ahead; tell them to open up a hanger for you." As the _Quatra_ lifted into the air, Revan, Jace, and Trek saw ten Sith fighters blast off from the hanger that they had sent the team to.

Jace burned hard on the fuel, trying to catch up with the rest of the ships. Anti-air turrets began firing up at them, but the ships took enough evasive maneuvers to avoid them. In a few minutes, they breached the atmospheric barriers of Shikara and locked on with the rest of the fleet.

Though the battle overhead had simmered a bit before, Trek's fleet was now feeling the pressure of a real fight. The True Sith had finally been able to override Commander Rainer's control of the space station to take it back. The security systems in the station were reactivated, and so both the _Spear Tip_ and the _Pincer_ had evacuated the station after taking some ground casualties. Now the fleet was dumping its firepower into the hull of the station, trying to destroy it. Radar had just detected a Sith fleet enter the defense grid out of hyperspace and moving hard. Archie Saww knew that he may be able to outlast them for a while, but not with serious casualties. The Kraxis Rebellion fleet was simply too weak and too premature to handle a dreadnought dogfight.

"Trek to _Pincer_, do you copy?" said Trek, the group getting even closer to the fleet's barrage of the station.

"Aye aye, Commander," replied one of the crewmembers.

"I've got Blaik; he and his men are coming up in Sith fighters; _do not_ fire upon them! Radio them and get them into one of your hangers."

"Aye aye," came the response.

"Saww," said Trek, quickly changing channels. "Status report?"

Saww gave Trek a thirty second briefing on the dismal situation. "…and it doesn't look like this station's going critical."

"Then forget it," said Trek. "We aren't cut out to take the fleet. Let the rest of the fleet know, we jump in seven minutes."

"We might not be ready by then," said Archie.

"Then stop wasting time talking to me and _get_ ready by then!" growled Trek. "Get Myrther's port on the _Hammer _back up and running, ETA one minute."

And Trek was right; one minute later, the soldiers sprinted off the _Quatra_, as did Revan, Trek, Jace, and Yuthura. Trek raced to the bridge, the others hung back, as there was not much they could do.

"Sir, fleet is now approximately three hundred seconds away from firing range!" Garrisson yelled to Archie. "The rest of the fleet is in position, but we're too far out!"

"Trigger the retro rockets," said Saww. "Full burn to starboard!"

"Belay that!" yelled Trek. "If we don't make the jump to hyperspace now, we're sitting ducks! Use these coordinates." He tossed Archie the datapad.

Archie punched in the coordinates and transmitted them to the rest of the fleet. "Sir, there's nothing out there…"

"Exactly," said Trek. "Do it!"

Archie entered the confirmation codes on the ship's navicomputer. Within minutes, the hyperdrive began to roar even louder. The blue vortex of hyperspace appeared and the _Hammer of Judgment_ hit light speed. The rest of the fleet followed just a few seconds behind them, leaving the pursuing Sith fleet in the space dust.

Trek closed his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Well done Saww," he said. "We should be out of hyperspace in a couple hours. When we are, I want you to patch me through to the rest of the fleet."

For the next two hours, the Kraxis Rebellion fleet soared through the tunnel of hyperspace. Revan unequipped the non-essentials from his belt but kept the armor on and lightsabers on. He could not help but to wallow over the failure of the mission. Of course Revan knew that Trek would consider it a normal mission accomplished, but his main objective had failed, and now that they were away from the danger, it was eating away at him again. Revan never liked to lose, but he hated failure. Even as a Sith Lord, a Jedi Knight and prodigious knight, this was always a trait consistent to his character. He did not even care that the only reason the mission was a "failure" was because Lena's information was not actually in the prisoner database. That meant the True Sith were keeping her secret, figuring that he might be able to gain access to their classified information. Lena was his first mate and one of his most loyal soldiers, now the time window had expired and the trail had gone home.

There was no hope of finding her, short of a miracle through the Force. Yet this was even another failure Revan was kicking himself over. Jedi, Sith, and those whose senses were attuned with the Force had the ability to reach out with their feelings and touch life; a power one must have used with great caution, but also a power one could use to locate those close to them. One key lesson from the Jedi that Revan still maintained in his heart was that all life was sacred, because everyone is unique. One's identity with the Force was largely dependent on this, yet in spite of all his feeble attempts to reach out with the Force, he could not find Lena. Wherever she was, the True Sith had hidden her very well. That is why he felt like he had no choice but to go along with Trek's plan to find Lena in the computer networks on Shikara. His options were reduced to nothing. Now that this had proven a waste of time, Revan knew that he had failed, and Lena was doomed. All he could think to do was keep trying. There was still the matter of Trek's radical actions with the innocent cop on Shikara to discuss, but for the time being, Revan sat back into meditation in the cargo bay of the Ebon Hawk.

Yuthura, who had been wearing Darth Bandon's Sith fiber armor, changed out of it and into regular civilian clothes. Though she was sad that they could not find Lena, her feelings about it were not as strong as Revan's were, having not the same kind of relationship. Jace went back to the medical bay and fetched his computer. He lugged the whole terminal back to the _Quatra_ and began working on it again. Cassandra was taking a nap in the Med Bay, while Dustil tinkered with the _Ebon Hawk_ from above, buffing out the dings and scratches, something he had not been able to do at all. There were some wounds still left from the ship's trip to and from both Tryton and Malachor V.

Meanwhile, Trek sat on the single sofa in the center of his chamber looking a virtual replay of the space battle, as he was not a witness to the happenings. His fleet had done remarkably well, and he knew it. This was their first real test, and the fact that they escaped without losing a single ship was proof of that. But Trek had no doubts about the fleet's incapability against a standard True Sith fleet of warships. He knew very well the strengths and weaknesses of those he commanded, and as personally as he could possibly get.

"Commander, Saww here," came the voice over the private channel. "We're about to exit hyperspace. Shall we patch you through from the bridge or in your office?"

"My office," said Trek. "But make sure everyone can hear it. Tell Revan and Myrther that I want them to report to my office at 0800 tomorrow.

"Actually sir, Jace told me ahead of time that you would want to talk to him. He requested that his work not to be disturbed."

"Fine, whatever," said Trek. "But keep a tight hold on our security firewalls. Whatever Myrther's doing, I don't want him going in there without our eyes on him. I still don't trust him."

"Will do, Commander," said Archie. "I'll let you know when you're on." The Lieutenant Commander disconnected and ordered the fleet be taken out of hyperspace a minute later.

When the starlines became stars again, everyone near a window began looking around to see where they were, but nothing was familiar. Galaxy map showed them somewhere near the Magnetic Region, an area of space few travelled to, for fear of the Crispin Minefield that was near. But no mine was in sight, nor were they within more than a few light years from a star, planet, or space station. It was one of the loneliest patches of space in the entire Unknown Regions.

"Where are we?" some of the crew of the _Hammer_ were asking each other, but Archie kept the chatter down as much as he could, assuring them that Trek had something to say.

As soon as the link was set up to the whole fleet, Archie radioed Trek. "You're on, sir."

"This is Commander Trek speaking," Trek began. He took a deep breath. "I speak with a slight degree of embarrassment, having been a bit out of touch with all of you in the last month. If you're looking for any kind of reassurance that we're completely on the right track and that we're well on our way to complete annihilation of the Sith, you won't get it from me. But you also won't get from me any feeling of despair.

"Seven hours ago, we commenced one of the most dangerous operations we have ever dared to do. I have no doubt that all of you were reminded once again in your hearts what we are fighting for, and spawned again a feeling of hatred towards the enemy that drove you all to accomplish such impossible deeds. We went to one of the most heavily fortified planets in the empire and gave them a hard cold slap they won't be forgetting for a long time. But our work is not over, and this might not even have meant all that much in the campaign, but it did mean something to me. I couldn't help but notice a lot of different theories of confusion floating around; speculation as to why I made the decision to do this, and what I was trying to accomplish. Sith are cryptic and secretive; I'm not, so I'll tell you right now. I brought us to Shikara to rescue Gunnery Sergeant Blaik and his unit from Sith capture; simple as that.

"Why would I do that? Why would I risk the fate of the entire fleet for the salvation of a handful of men? You can give it or not give it whatever justification you'd like. You all know the toll we have taken from this war. In a galaxy where the righteous are so few and far between, where those who just stand by and stroke themselves are just as guilty as the perpetrators of injustice, we are better. We prove our worth with every hole-punched Sith corpse we leave behind us for those alive to puke over. We prove our worth with every ounce of sweat we perspire in the name of destroying the ultimate war machine. But most importantly, we prove our worth by the way we treat each other. A journeyman basked in an aura of raging hate is worth nothing when he stands alone. Our actions must work to strengthen the inner fire for each other, and it is for that reason that I broke Blaik and his men out of that hell hole. It is the purest act of patriotism. We will be stronger for this, our actions shall make us that much harder for the Sith to stomp on us, and when the time comes, we _will_ stomp on them. Trek out."

The tired Commander disconnected, stretched out and leaned back on the chair, and dozed off, spending his last few minutes of consciousness gazing at the ceiling.

* * *

_The next morning…_

Revan, dressed in casual clothing entered Trek's private chamber. The Commander was also dressed rather casually wearing a sleeveless dark grey shirt and military grade navy blue pants. Trek was in his chair but was not appearing to be doing anything important. As Revan entered, a chair identical to the one Trek was in came forward, no doubt with Trek's use of the Force. As the chair came to Revan, Trek turned around.

"Sit," said Trek rather flatly. Revan did so, much with the intent to listen to what Trek had to say, barely a clue as to what the discussion was going to be about. "So, Revan," he began. "You look like you've had a bit of military experience behind you…though the nature of that eludes me. How do you deal with insubordination?"

Revan smirked. "Back in the day, it would either involve an airlock or a lightsaber…depending on the mood."

But Trek was not amused. Revan seemed to not have taken the events of yesterday seriously. Yet somehow, Trek knew that Revan was telling the truth. He was just being far too coy about it. "Don't screw with me," he responded. "You're a little ignorant of my ways, so I'm prepared to let this kind of thing slide, but you ought to know that if any of my own people did what you did yesterday, they'd be _begging_ for the use of an airlock."

"By 'doing what I did yesterday', are you referring to me saving the life of an innocent man you were about to kill in cold blood?" Revan's response was just as uncompromising. He had no regrets about doing this, though he had not spent as much time thinking about it, compared to his failures with Lena. "If you are," Revan continued. "Then you should know that I don't care if this is a routine thing for you. It's not happening under my watch. And if this is what your rebellion stands for, you can count me the hell out."

This time, Trek smirked. "I'm sorry…did you just call that cop an _innocent_ man?" Revan stayed silent for this hypothetical question, knowing Trek would go on. And he was right. "You believe a man who reports directly to a Sith, does his bidding for a living without daring to question the motivation…is _innocent?_"

"You sound like a lawyer," said Revan. "It'd be one thing to kill him if he started firing at you. This man didn't even have a gun. It's another thing to kill someone in cold blood simply because he was doing his relatively harmless job. It's not like Jace was actually going to pay that lousy ticket, and Jace could have just has easily convinced him to walk away. This was a step that you took _way_ too far!"

"This goes far beyond the scope of the ticket!" snapped Trek, leaning forward in his chair. "Not only did you stop me from doing what I have sworn a blood oath to do, but you emboldened the enemy with your compassion, justified by your arrogant sense of wisdom. This is war, Revan. Innocents die in war, but that cop was _not_ an innocent man."

Revan rolled his eyes. "Don't presume me to be a naïve peace-loving whore! The man was alone, defenseless, and frightened – one of the very people you're trying to help against the True Sith. Killing him wasn't the answer. Now…do you want to waste more of your time fighting a losing battle of philosophy, or shall we try and figure out a real way to break the enemy?"

Now Trek was smiling a cold and smug smile. A light chuckle came from his vocal cords before he spoke again. "Philosophy? You think…that we're arguing philosophy? And you think that cops like these are among the people I'm trying to help against the Sith?" This time, Trek started laughing.

"Who do you think we're fighting? You think we're fighting an enemy that scrounges up some diabolical scheme to destroy the galaxy and all it takes is a simple bit of irony and trickery to stop it, by which the leader will scream a long and heavy "_no_" as he is destroyed? Wake up! Your philosophical and ideological disagreements have _no_ place here! Do you really think the enemy is going to keel over and surrender because you show mercy and compassion?"

"No," mused Revan. "But I don't think the enemy is going to keel over and surrender because you like to kill their peons. Even if you kill a whole bunch of them, what does that do? They're replaceable; all it does is piss them off and waste your energy. At the end of the day, if you beat out the Sith, the people will despise you as much as they did them."

Trek gave a deep sigh, losing the smile on his face and leaning back a bit in his chair. "Now I think I understand you," he said. "You…have _no_ idea what it is you're fighting." Revan was not amused at all, but Trek continued laughing. "How could I be so stupid, with my presumption that because you're capable of killing a Sith by yourself, that you know how the enemy works! _Hah!_ Well silly me."

"Oh?" retorted Revan. "I thought I was fighting a forcefully oppressive tyrannical regime bent on creating chaos and either conquering or destroying all that is good and worth fighting for in this galaxy. Am I wrong?"

"So wrong," said Trek with a nod. "I mean…yes they are tyrannical, and yes they're a regime, and yes they love creating chaos and disorder in the short run, but you understand less about them than you understand about me."

Revan was baffled by this remark. He knew the Sith were smarter than the generic Force villain, but what was Trek trying to say here? Revan could hardly hide his ignorance of the enemy, and he knew that Lena was telling the truth about them…at least from her own perspective. Then again, Lena had even admitted that her own perspective was a weak one, having come from one of their dungeons. Now he was lost in the dark and even more alone without Lena there.

He took a breath and asked the only question that came to mind. "What does this have to do with you?"

"A lot more than you might think," said Trek. "Again…your ignorance is quite apparent in this kind of situation, so I can't fully blame you…but do you know _anything?_"

"I'm really tired of getting asked that question," snapped Revan. "I'll make your life easier – just assume I don't."

"First things last," said Trek. "I'm no cryptic, but you sure as hell sound like one when you refer to the enemy as the 'True Sith'. Maybe you ought to tell me a little more about this _fake_ Sith you obviously know something about."

Revan smirked. "Fair enough," he said. "Though I'm not sure I'd call them _Sith_, knowing what they really are. They're actually Dark Jedi, and before you ask me this…Jedi is a term used to describe one who pledges himself or herself to a code of virtue and uses the Force to be a guardian of peace and justice in the galaxy in the name of the light side of the Force. I used to be one. I used to be a Dark Jedi too…

"Dark Jedi are usually former Jedi who are seduced to the dark side of the Force, get greedy with that power, and then unleash a war against the Jedi and the Galactic Republic in the hopes of getting more of it. Sometimes they win, other times they don't, but it's a cycle that's gone on for quite a long time."

"Jedi, fake Sith, Galactic Republic, Kessel, dark side seduction, yeah that makes sense now," said Trek, with a furrowed brow. He crossed his arms. "The reason you don't know anything is because you're a long way from home…aren't you?" Revan was silent for a bit and then replied with a nod. "As are the others, except Vesta."

"Alright Trek, you've made your point," snarled Revan. "But it doesn't matter; I'm here, and I came here to learn about _and_ fight the True Sith. If you think I ought to be somewhere else, let me know."

"I didn't say that," responded Trek with a slightly innocent tone. "I said that you're fighting an enemy you know nothing about; it's quite obvious that what you've learned about the Sith so far is inadequate. Maybe it's your fault, maybe it isn't; I really don't care. I had a suspicion that you, Myrther, and the others needed a story. I didn't call you up here just to grill your ass; that's a waste of our time."

Revan was a bit relieved to hear this. He was enjoying the conversation with Trek less and less, but it was at least good to hear that killing Sith and conducting cold actions similar to those of Darth Revan weren't all that Trek was good for. He would never believe that there was any kind of merit behind that, but clearly there was more to this than met first glance."

"Then make me understand," said Revan. "What is it about the Sith that compels you to murder innocent peons?"

"It comes from knowing everything about them," replied Trek. "It comes from witnessing their ways first hand." He paused for a moment with a sigh. "It comes from being one of them."

Revan paused to think about Trek's last comment. The commander was not lying, it was more for the sake of irony that just like him, Trek had an insider's perspective on how the enemy worked, just like Revan did. He had to ask. "Explain…"

"Alright, but you're going to have to bear with me," said Trek. "There's a lot to tell; including a little history of my own, but I'll give you some information now; you can figure out what you want to tell your crew later. Just one thing…_do not_ interrupt me, unless I say it is okay."

Revan put his hands up for a second as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm listening."

Trek took a deep breath. "It goes back to what I said earlier," he said. "The Sith are not scheming to do what you think they're doing in the way you understand it. It seems apparent that Dark Jedi tend to operate in a much more "in your face" kind of way. It makes sense, because they're human and humans have short life-spans comparatively. Sith don't, which is why they're patient and are much more far-sighted than even the best and brightest of us. Luckily for us, I know their intentions _and_ their motivations.

Trek took another breath before speaking again. "Now I have a question, only because you look like someone with enough experience to actually answer it correctly. What is the most effective way to assure eternal rule and domination in the galaxy?"

Revan thought for a moment. This didn't seem like a trick question, but Trek was going to reveal something important about the Sith so it very well could have been. "Judging by the way you asked it, I'm guessing the answer is not subjective," began Revan. "Off the top of my head, I would say your reign would be eternal if you could indoctrinate everyone to worship you as a god, or a supernatural being of perfection. The higher power in this galaxy is the Force; if once can use take advantage of that, and convince everyone that it's not the Force, but it's this one person who holds all the power, no one can question his domination."

"Very close," said Trek with nod. "Mainly because you said 'indoctrinate'. The answer to this question is the very heart of the matter. Your answer also touches on a bit of human nature, and our tendency to seek understanding of that which we cannot comprehend, but not to the extent I was hoping for.

"The answer to that question is: No one can ever know that you are the ruler."

Revan began cycling thoughts in his head again. Trek's answer was very profound and very philosophical, even though he had laughed out philosophical warfare earlier. This made sense to him, it was similar to the perspective of Kreia, who had always preached subtlety and secret manipulation as the greatest means of accomplishing the task, even if it means being patient. Darth Revan would never have understood this, as he was too busy trying to make the Republic prepare for a war with the True Sith. But now that Trek had revealed the intentions, he wondered if that war was ever actually going to happen. If the True Sith wanted no one to know, they could never hope to charge in guns blazing and not be noticed. Perhaps the efforts of Darth Revan were rendered meaningless, but this was a very premature conclusion to draw, so Revan recanted in his thoughts. The only remaining wondering was if the True Sith already ruled the galaxy. They couldn't have; but it was food for thought.

"With the exception of the neck of the galaxy that you are from, the Sith control _everything_ here," continued Trek. "They knew that they had to have an official empire somewhere, so they do; but it is very small. It spans a radius of just a few light years beyond Voss. Voss is more than just a giant mass of energy in proximity to everything else. It's a planet; capitol of the Sith empire. The energy it emanates is the dark side of the Force in raw form, in symbiosis with the Sith. They feed into its energy, and that energy makes them stronger. On the outside, it just looks like a big purple gas giant; its surface is barren, except for the capitol city, which isn't even that big. The official territory of the Sith doesn't go far beyond it. But unofficially, they rule everything.

"Their scheme to dominate the whole galaxy is possible because of what they were able to do here. The moment you entered the Crispin Asteroid Belt, you entered the empire. Even if you were under their nose, and found no evidence of them anywhere, this all belongs to them. And that is the very beauty of their plan; no one knows, and people would never believe it. Ask them who's in charge. The most generic response would be 'the people' or whatever established democratic or republican or despotic governments they have. They would laugh to scorn the idea that they are actually controlled by a race of Force sensitives who can do whatever they want to whomever they want; but it's true. Yet this is _exactly_ the type of reaction the Sith want. It creates ignorance of who is in charge, and it allows them to rule unquestioned.

"While your galaxy has experienced its tumult and conflict, and whatever politicking that compelled you to leave it, the Sith have been dealing with their empire, and they have been carefully planning how to take your part of the galaxy over and exert its ultimate control, just as they did here. They aren't idiots, they almost never make mistakes, and they are _very_ good at getting what they want; and they want everything." Trek paused and summoned a teacup to his hand. "Tea?"

Revan had no idea what to say, except to nod his head a few times. He was very thirsty, but the revelations Trek was pounding on him were so great, he had forgotten all about it. Trek poured him a cup and gently sent it his way with the Force. Revan grabbed it and took a sip. "But…why?" he said, as the warm tea went down his throat.

"Well…that's where a little more storytelling comes into play," said Trek.

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this double update. The reason was to celebrate the birthday of Sarge42._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	36. Chapter 35: Loyalty and Betrayal

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

**

**Chapter 35**

**Loyalty and Betrayal

* * *

**

"I was born on Tryton II, though I can hardly call myself a native of that world. Sith loyalty and military service runs in my family, so my early life was fairly mobile. My parents were soldiers in the Sith military, met and married in the service. My father was a war hero; lost his entire squad and then took down the whole pirate vessel on his own. He met my mother, when she was patching up his wounds in the infirmary right after that; they married a few years later and had me…only me. That in and of itself got the Sith's attention, as the son of a decorated war hero; not to mention, my mother was no average nurse. She was also an expert in Sith anatomy. I was raised to love and respect the Sith as leaders and models of perfection.

"For the record, Sith almost _never_ take in Force sensitive humans. Most of the time, they are ignored. If they become an inconvenience, they get locked up or killed. However, there is one academy for the exceptions, ones who are found early enough or are proven to be valuable. It's on Mengskin, and it's quite large, given that it trains both Sith and humans, but it is _very_ difficult to get into. My parents pushed and pushed to try and get me into that academy when they found out I was Force sensitive. They accepted, and so at age ten, I was sent away. But what's more important is what I became and what I learned of the Sith's ways…let's just say it was far more than the normal human student."

* * *

_In the middle of a marked battle ring in a small private training facility, Rixxon Zazz, the Grand Sire of the True Sith stood, watching one of his own kin wrestle the only human in the room. A very young Amicus Trek, scar-free and with fairly lengthy straight hair, was vigorously grappling with a True Sith soldier. The ring was marked by hard elastic cables, bounded in the shape of a square._

_The True Sith in the ring had just broken free of Trek's tight upper corner and was now rolling over, trying to get the dominant position. Trek rolled, trying to keep up with the Sith so to prevent him from succeeding, but the Sith stuck his foot up, catching Trek in the air, and then hooked it around, mounting on top of him. Trek was struggling, trying not to waste all of his energy, but the exasperating day had stressed his muscles and nerves to their maximum. When the Sith had his arm pressing down on Trek's throat while moving his knees up to mount them on Trek's biceps, Trek bucked and threw him over his head. The Sith hit the elastic cable, and though it stretched substantially, it bounced the Sith back into the ring, sending his head straight into Trek's inward elbow. The Sith's head shot backwards and led the rest of the body straight down to the ground. Though he was still conscious, the next thing he felt, besides the ringing in his head, was Trek's boot placed on his neck._

"_I yield," gasped the Sith._

_The Grand Sire immediately clapped his hands for Trek as the boot was lifted and allowed the Sith to get back up on his feet. "I had to see it to believe it," he said. "You really are one of the best of your kind; even among the best of my kind." Zazz's voice was raspy and dark, more than unique to the rest of the True Sith._

_Trek bowed. "Thank you, Grand Sire; I am honored."_

"_Leave us…" Zazz said to the other. The other Sith dusted himself off and then left the room. "Amicus Trek, one in your place understands that our treatment of you is quite unique, but only for the reason that your power and potential makes you very useful. You have very few predecessors, but the humans whose skills are comparable to our very own standards are occasionally given the chance to prove themselves to us. But this great power comes with great responsibility. You would be one of us; among us, a guardian and protector of our ways, our rule, and our secrets."_

"_Nothing would please me more than to serve as humanity's best representative," said Trek, without looking into Zazz's eyes._

"_The trust the Grand Sire of the Sith puts into this is substantial, one that requires far more than a blood oath of loyalty. Under my predecessor, there was only one in your place; Jarrod Ockier. His final task was to locate the source of a financial leak and plug it back up, as well as bring back the heads of all responsible. He ended up bringing back over five hundred heads, taken from five hundred individuals who had profited from the ultimate thief of our money. Such dedication and loyalty proved his worth to my predecessor, and he served faithfully for the rest of his life. My grand-predecessor had the very first. The exceptional of your kind are so few and so far between, no official standard could ever be set. The task I have for you is very similar to the one Ockier had to do, but on a much larger scale. Are you ready?"_

"_I am ready, Sire," said Trek in the most faithful tone of voice he could muster._

"_Rise…" Trek rose and faced the Grand Sire._

"_There is an organization that has recently developed," returned Zazz. "From our neighbor planet of Kraxis, a rebellion mustered against me and against the Sith. Only my chiefs of staff know of it, and though it will take much more than a single army to make my kind panic, the rest of the galaxy must not know of this. The damage cannot be limited; it must be eliminated. You will find the conspirators and members of this Kraxis Rebellion, and you will put them down. Just like Ockier, you will bring me their heads. You are on your own for this mission; no backup, no intel, nothing but your very own resources and your skills."_

"_Not a single devious soul shall survive," responded Trek. "I will make sure of it."_

"_Bear in mind, that if you should fail your task, another Sith can just as easily take your place," said Zazz. "By now I am sure that you know of my generous feelings towards humanity, and I know how much this means to you. Therefore, I am more than willing to put you up to this task; but do not disappoint me. If you do, you need not bother returning, and there will never be another human to rise to your ranks for as long as I am Sire. Those are the stakes. Do you understand?"_

_Trek took a breath. "Yes, Grand Sire…I understand."_

"_May the dark side of the Force serve you well."_

_Trek bowed one last time and turned, leaving the room without looking back.

* * *

_

"I did the Grand Sire's bidding with enthusiasm. I tracked down every single HQ, hideout, and bunker, and I slaughtered them all. There were no survivors, and I left behind a trail of blood and guts. It was a pleasure to do such easy work at the Grand Sire's bidding, and it would make my status as an honorary Sith official and permanent. Three weeks of hunting and slaughtering and I drove the Kraxis Rebels to extinction. When I returned to Zazz, I dumped the head of the leader at his feet with my bow. He took it and disintegrated it with his hand, and then he anointed me by burning off the hair at the top of my head. It was the proudest day of my life…that is, until I met my wife.

"I was married, and a father of three beautiful children – an older boy and two little girls, all of them Force sensitive. My personal time belonged to them, training and spending time with them. I was going to make them weapons for the Sith, even Sith themselves like me, establish a legacy for my family name.

"It turns out, running an entire empire is quite difficult work, even though the Zazz made it look easy. There was a lot for me to do, a lot of people for me to kill, and a lot of examples to be made. I made a lot of friends, and no enemy I ever made lasted very long. The Grand Sire was even determined to sometimes show me off as a prime example of what humanity is capable of producing. You could say I was…something of a symbol. I'm not even bragging about this, by the way. It's a fact.

"Now…as much as I hate to digress from this, it is also important to note that I love humanity. Even though I was raised to revere the Sith, as I matured, I saw great potential even in the non-Force sensitive beings in the human race. I didn't just voluntarily join with the Sith for my own glory. It did bring me certain perks; I met my wife on one of my missions, I was very wealthy, and I had both the trust and political backing of the Grand Sire, but when it came to my career, the racial uplift of humanity is what my ultimate goals were. With each human I killed, I believed that it was to further the cause of the Sith empire, and subsequently the cause of humanity. Zazz treated me with great respect even though my power was so miniscule compared to his own. The more I did, the more I noticed his feelings towards humans become warmer. His decision to bring me into his inner circle was a reluctant one at best, but his treatment of humans in the empire got better. My dealings brought in a lot of extra resources, and he would joke about my 'aggressive negotiations.' Of course, I found to be a lame statement at best, and at worst, the most conniving and puke inducing phrase ever put together by a person who is supposed to be taken seriously, but obviously I never told him that.

"My biggest interest, as part of the raging Sith machine was to better humanity's place in this galaxy. Humans have so much to offer, and of course the strong must always rule the Sith and the Sith must always rule the galaxy, but that did not mean that there wasn't a place for humans to thrive. This is what I thought back then…and all that's really changed is my attitude towards Sith…as I'm sure you've noticed. Even now, I still believe in humanity's potential as a race. We simply must overcome the barriers the Sith have set upon us…and it has to be done by showing the Sith that we can take them on, that we can out-savage them, and dismantle their oppressive establishment.

"For ten years, I bore the Sith badge proudly. But not everything was as fine and lovely as it seemed. It turned out, even though the Grand Sire's authority was the only one that mattered, there were many others in the supreme ranks who detested me. Zazz's apprentice hated my guts, though his grudge was based off of a single event where Zazz taught me a special technique in the Force before teaching it to him. Professional jealousy I suppose is the term. But that wasn't even it; it was primarily the Joint Chiefs of Staff who hated me the most. Aside from the fact that my antics made even some of the best of the Sith encumbered with jealousy, they believed that it was inappropriate for a human to even be considered an honorary member of a 'superior' species, and that a human could actually be knowledgeable about the deepest and darkest secrets of their empire.

"I didn't think they would ever go so far to get rid of me by going behind the Grand Sire's back, but…first mistake. General Rexx secretly ordered the killing of my family, but not my own death. I found out about it through a friend who was a Sith, named Daevon.

* * *

_ It was very early in the morning in the capitol city on Shikara. The sky was pitch black, barely a star in sight. The city had grown quiet, but Trek sprinted down the street and ducked into an alley. When Trek made it to the other end of the alley, his friend was waiting for him._

"_Slow down, your breathing's going to set off speeder alarms," said his friend._

"_Good to see you too Daevon," grumbled Trek in a sarcastic tone. "But I don't like meeting like this; why so discreet?"_

"_You're not going to like this," said Daevon. "I have a message that comes from way high up."_

"_Most messages for me do…" said Trek._

"_But this one wasn't for you," replied Daevon. "It was from General Rexx, and it was for his personal Sith infantry brigade, 3__rd__ Battalion."_

"_How'd you get it?"_

"_It doesn't matter," said Daevon. "But I wasn't able to stop this message from getting to them."_

"_Unless the message concerns me," said Trek in a suspicious tone. "It's not my business or my place; the less I know, the more secure I am."_

"_You already know everything," said Daevon. "And this message does concern you. You'd think I'd call you and tell you to get your ass down here from four light years away over a matter of Zazz's grocery shopping?"_

"_Alright, let's see it." Daevon handed Trek a piece of paper with a short message on it from Supreme Commander Norbus Rexx._

"_You're kidding me," said Trek. "I know Rexx hates me, but no way would he take it this far. The Sire would lash his teeth out one by one. When'd you get this?"_

"_Two hours ago…this is real, Trek," said Daevon. "I couldn't tell you this over the communicator. I've been watched since I smuggled that intel I gave you from Tryton. You're lucky it's me and not someone else telling you this."_

_Trek shook his head with a smirk. He didn't believe it, and for good reason. He was the most loyal servant Rixxon Zazz had ever hired; never failing on one mission, and he had even voluntarily turned in traitors in the government before Zazz knew they even existed, not including the slaughtering of the Kraxis Rebels. This couldn't be right. Nevertheless, Daevon had never deceived him before, and it concerned his family, which caught his eye. Trek was motionless for a short time, thinking about this._

"_What the hell are you still doing here? Go get to your family!"_

_Trek sighed. "Fine," he said. "This better not be a game. My time is much too valuable to be wasted." Trek walked out of the alley and moved quickly back to his ship._

_Meanwhile, Daevon activated his comm. and switched to another radio channel. "He's on his way."_

_Trek barely believed his friend, but another side of him felt like he was doing his family a disservice by not being there to begin with. He had just been drawn away from a voluntary intel gathering job on dissidence in the Adine territories. But it was not like he could do anything at the moment. He was already at light speed, and heading home._

_The feelings persisted more and more, that Daevon was indeed telling the truth. Then again, this was in his gut, but he was much more used to using his head. His reputation of being cold and calculating as much as he was brutal in his methods had made him such an effective asset to the Grand Sire. The conflict of what was true and what wasn't was still present and still just as blurry. There was still no harm in checking it out. He had seen his family very recently; the last time he kissed his wife, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The job demanded that he be away often, and his family had understood and become accustomed to it. His wife even had a few friends in the Sith species._

_When the ship came out of hyperspace, Trek sped down and docked in his backyard. He cared not about the noise it would create, as it was around the same time it was on Shikara at the moment. The sky was still dark, but there were hints that a red sun was about to start rising. Blood had either been spilled this night or was going to be spilled today, another thought that sent a mild shiver up his spine. The Force was clearly giving him some messages. There were people he cared about that were in danger, yet his radar detected no Sith battalion present. Perhaps he had gotten there first, and could get them out there._

_But the situation was quite different. To Trek's horror and dismay, upon entering his house, he found blood dripping down the stairs. His heart skipped several beats as he rushed up the stairs and followed the blood trail to his bed room. There laid the corpse of his wife, Kurina in the middle of the floor. Her throat was slit while she was in bed, but it appeared that this was not enough to kill her, for she had left the bed and crawled about half a meter before the blood loss became too much and killed her. It was a mess, but Trek cared not for it. The woman he loved the most in the entire galaxy had been taken from her, and not in a way that he could get her back._

_He sunk to the ground; his knees immediately soaked in the blood, and picked Kurina up. He held her close and tightly, caressing his head against her chest. There was no heartbeat, and though Trek had already closed the wound with the Force, she could not be saved. Trek's mind was, for the first time since the birth of his second child, a pool of emotions. Daevon was right about General Rexx. Though he knew this to be true, he could hardly think about it. He wept harder than ever, still holding his wife close to him. The only coherent thought was to find his children._

_His two daughters were dead on their beds, much cleaner kills than his wife. His older son was also dead, but in the kitchen downstairs. There were signs of struggle; that the boy had tried fighting back, but he was no match for True Sith commandos._

_Now the feelings of betrayal and loss were even more devastating. All his dreams, everything he had wanted and most likely would have accomplished, immediately brought to a bitter end as the life of his family was taken. His hopes that his daughters become successful, his dream that one day his son would take his place at Zazz's side was gone. His hope of playing a game of checkers with his son the next time they saw each other…gone. His hope of retiring with Kurina in a smaller house where he could relax and enjoy a simple life of sports and luxury was brought to hopeless. The pain was worse than any physical pain he had ever experienced before; overbearing and without any promise of relief. He was alive, but most of everything he had to live for was not. The pain of his wife's death was closest to his heart, but that did not make the deaths of his children any easier to bear.

* * *

_

"I left my house, cremated the bodies on my ship and disposed of the ashes into space. There was nothing I could do for them; no technique in the Force I knew to bring them back. I was a drunken mess, floating around in the lonely patches of space. I figured Sith were hunting me, so I disappeared. It took me seven months to get my head straight again, but all that gave me was anger and a hunger for revenge. I still wasn't over them; and I'm not sure I'll ever be over them. But when I found out that Daevon himself was hunting me, I knew I'd have to act fast if I was to survive. I still had no idea what future path I would take; but it required that I be alive. That was all that was clear.

"I made myself bait, lured Daevon into a trap. He had a team of human commandos behind him as they came for me. I sealed the doors and nerve gassed the room before Daevon could break out. I knew the humans would be killed, but Daevon was fine, just as I expected. I captured him and brought him back to his shuttle."

* * *

_The shuttle was mostly vacant and floating in the middle of space, towing Trek's personal ship. Only Trek and Daevon were on board the shuttle, for Trek's ship was no longer updated on the private chat channel with Voss's embassy._

_In the shuttle, Daevon was a helpless case, at the mercy of a merciless shell of his former friend. Daevon's powers as a True Sith could not match Trek's own prowess, and Daevon didn't even try it. For the moment, Trek was not even asking any questions. He was savagely beating on Daevon's face and chest with his bare fists. Trek broke four of Daevon's ribs and knocked out three of his teeth. _

_But Trek was in control; something which no bystander could ever understand. Trek was in full control of himself, and in full control of his anger towards his friend. He was beating on him because he wanted to, and he had coldly calculated what he was going to do. Phase one involved settling a score with his friend and making Daevon experience a small fraction of the pain Trek felt when he lost his family in the form of physical torment. Phase two was to find the answer to the question that ached his brain cells, even when he was killing them with all the liquor he had consumed._

"_Enjoying yourself old buddy?" said Daevon, with blood dripping from his teeth a maniacal grin on his face._

"_Shut up!" bellowed Trek as he elbowed Daevon in the eye. "Say something impolite like that again and I'll rip the nails off your fingers._

"_You think I'm afraid to die?" said Daevon. "I am Sith…I fear nothing; and I have no regrets about what I did. So go ahead…kill me; we will not regret it, but you will when we find you and…"_

"_I said, SHUT UP!" Trek cut him off with kick to the chest, almost breaking another rib._

_ Trek moved from the handcuffed and secure barely alive pulp of his former friend to the nearest console. A few minutes of hacking gave access to the Grand Sire's personal chamber. With the push of a button, a video feed was established, and the holographic image of Rixxon Zazz sat before him on his chair._

"_I was wondering when you would contact me," said Zazz. "We have much to discuss Trek."_

"_Grand Sire," said Trek with a half-respectful nod. "I suppose after seven months, it wouldn't be much news to you if I told you it was General Rexx who gave the order to kill my family."_

"_No news at all," said Zazz. "Nor was it news to me when it happened. How much do you think I actually don't know?"_

"_If you knew it was going to happen, why didn't you contact me and warn me sooner? Or are you in league with them?"_

_Zazz stood from his chair and took three steps down. "Let's make one thing clear right now Trek, THEY are in league with ME! Not the other way around. I do not answer to you. You answer to me; you and the rest of this galaxy."_

"_Why?" demanded Trek. "What did I do besides do your biddings more loyally and more competently than anyone else you ever hired? What did I do besides bring the largest group of dissidents to a gruesome end? What did I do to deserve this? Answer me!"_

_Zazz laughed. "Well articulated…I am happy all that alcohol did not interfere with your ability to make a point. Very well…I did not give the order…not even implied consent. It was all Norbus Rexx…and the General was honest with me when it happened. I knew what he was planning to do; I could have stopped it if I wanted to, but his thoughts had some appeal to me."_

"_What thoughts…?" snarled Trek. "The only possible endearing thoughts from Rexx are: 'I'm hungry…'"_

"_Say what you will," said Zazz coldly. "I do not make my decisions on a whim. You were a valuable asset to me…and I have no doubt that you would have continued to faithfully serve had I not done what I did…but it was for the best."_

"_That's it?" replied Trek with narrowed eyes. "That's all you have to say to me? Killing my family was for the best!"_

"_Of course," said Zazz. "How many families have you destroyed because it was for the best? Humanity is a wonderful species...I still believe that. You became a symbol of hope…unfortunately you also became a symbol of worship and reverence. Not only that, but you have inadvertently undermined our operations. You have inspired humanity to stand on its own two feet prematurely – that is, before evolution of your species could truly manifest into something greater. Progress is slow…cancer is fast."_

"_This has NOTHING to do with humanity!" bellowed Trek. "What does it matter anyway? My race has been ready to do that for a long time!"_

"_That is my decision…" said Zazz. "Not yours; and you of all people, given what you know of us and what we do, you should understand that killing your family was not personal. It was just good politics."_

"_Well then I expect that you will be a sport and allow me to murder a few hundred thousand of your own kind for the sake of equally good politics."_

_Zazz made himself yawn. "You are beginning to bore me, Amicus…" he said._

_ "I can fix that," snapped Trek as he grabbed Daevon by the hair and dragged him over to the middle for Zazz to see. The Grand Sire made no motion or any kind of change in expression. "You care not for me, and you care nothing for humanity, even if you think you do. I never would have guessed that. But if you do care about your own family, then you better get them prepared, because I am going to right the wrongs your kind inflicted upon this galaxy."_

_In a final agonizing struggle, Daevon extended a field of sky blue lightning from his fingertips, but Trek anticipated it, and caught all of it with his hand without even looking at him. Trek did not bother to fire back, merely waited patiently, absorbing all the lightning with the Force until Daevon tired out. When Daevon finally stopped and fell backwards, Trek turned his head to look at him. _

"_You're embarrassing yourself," he said. "Even Zazz agrees." But Zazz cared not for this event._

"_As if you think you can become the very embodied dissent you once put to death," the Grand Sire laughed. "Choose your words carefully Trek. The Sith will always be a part of who you are. You have done so much for humanity; are you really willing to risk my wrath upon your race by turning against us? Much better to accept death and be a martyr for them…"_

_Trek quickly glanced at Daevon, and then back to Zazz. "The Sith are a part of what I used to be. That part of me died with my family. Tell your friends to prepare, Zazz." Trek paused, to see the Grand Sire's eyes widen with a stroke of anger at his disrespect. "You think humanity is not ready to take over? They'll take it right out from under you. By my life or death, I will hunt your kind to extinction. And I'll be starting with this one." Trek cut the transmission before the Grand Sire began to laugh and turned back to Daevon, who was still trying to recover from the pain._

"_You know what you just did," coughed Daevon. "You might as well have committed suicide considering the alternative of what they're going to do to you."_

"_They can try," said Trek. "But their success will be equivalent to your success in making it out of here alive. Zero…"_

"_They'll pronounce you dead, and you'll never see the light of day again," said Daevon._

"_And neither will you…"

* * *

_

"I killed Daevon, which was the start of my going rogue. Though I tried not to be found in the beginning, I killed Sith wherever I found them. If I spotted a team of human commandos, I'd kill them too. My overall purpose was to get the attention of others. I figured there had to be some underground movements against the Sith that we didn't know about. The galaxy is a pretty big place.

"Of course, people didn't buy it at first. Even though they had the evidence of my family being killed and my public fugitive status in the empire, those who recognized me were weary. Those who called the Sith and told them I was there, I'd kill them, and then get the hell out of there. I had a few close calls, but it turns out there were some underground movements, and some of them did decide to put a fragment of trust in me. They lacked resources and leadership, but I saw potential, so I seized it. Slowly but surely, I gathered my resources, I started up the new Kraxis Rebellion, even though the planet Kraxis had absolutely nothing to do with it. As I got more soldiers, we commandeered ships, technology, and resources. I knew that the only way to stay safe from the Sith would be to keep moving through space. Money was never a problem, my wealth funded a great deal of what I did in the beginning. This may seem a bit shocking to you, but I actually know what I'm doing, and my head has never been clearer." Trek leaned back in his chair and drank his tea again, which had gotten cold by now, causing him to frown.

Revan took a sigh. Trek had just dumped a lot on him; even more than what Lena had originally told him about the Sith and her personal background. It was not that he had no understanding, more that he was now trying to get ahead in his thinking. But Trek's face was demanding a response, so he made the same remark he made to Lena. "Wow," he said. It wasn't enough, but Trek might have more to say. One thing Revan was curious about was the remarks about humanity. It seemed like an important aspect to Trek's reasoning, but perhaps he had not explained it thoroughly enough. "Is there more I should know about humanity?"

"Yeah," admitted Trek. "The first thing you should know is, when I say 'humanity', I'm not just referring to us homo-sapiens humans. I'm referring to the similar intelligent alien life forms that are not mechanical and are not Sith."

"I know," said Revan. "It's not always the same where I'm from, but a twi'lek or an ithorian might as well be human. Superficial appearances aside, humanity can be described by their social nature and their emotions."

"Let's not get too distracted," said Trek. "Wow, I feel like Myrther right now." He chuckled a bit.

"You were saying?"

"I keep forgetting you know nothing," laughed Trek. "I'm referring to the plan Sith have for all of humanity. You may consider it, their mark on the galaxy as the supreme rulers."

"Go on," said Revan, leaning forward.

"Sith are dominant, but they are not self-sufficient, _especially_ given their goals. One thing you must understand about the Sith is that they have a long memory; while they do not forgive acts of treason, they do not forget acts of service. They are a species with a very small population and the only unfortunate thing about being the ultimate masters of the dark side of the Force is that reproduction is _very_ difficult. Apparently the dark side of the Force aborts more babies than needles do. They can live for thousands of years, but producing offspring is very difficult for them. When it comes to manpower, they need humans. But the Sith are also very careful not to let too many humans overpopulate and infest their ranks. It's one of just a few weaknesses that belong to their race, and their system revolves around both hiding and strengthening these weaknesses.

"Their system of governance and policy is one of basic eugenics and simple illusions. All they want for their resources are the healthiest and fittest of us, and they know that there are more than enough humans who fit that profile. It's just sometimes difficult to find them. Twenty one thousand years ago, there was a forceful remobilization of resources dedicated to making this happen. They didn't want to kill them, merely move them to a place where they could rot. The first three planets of the Tryton System were invested for that sole purpose. Something like six generations of imbeciles and idiots was grounds for deportation, as well as those with prominent family diseases, with the exception to those the diseases hit at old age. Selection like that, you don't have too many humans left proportionally, but it was more than enough numbers-wise.

"Obviously most people didn't like this, but with enough indoctrination, nice treatment for the healthy, and enough chaos for the unhealthy that went on over the next several hundred years, this kind of thing became a myth. My ancestors were some of the lucky ones, and their loyalty to the Sith was very high.

"The genius of this illusion lies in the very essence of human nature. With things so bad on the first three Tryton worlds, and with so many humans there doing such terrible things to each other, it was easy for the Sith to just pin it all on that. They just conveniently don't mention that it was their doing in the first place. Meanwhile, those lucky ones spoiled by the Sith were grateful that they were not like the others, and thus became loyal. It's not that they knew what the Sith had done; it's that they believed themselves worthy of the positive judgment the Sith bestowed upon them in the form of relative freedom and economic security. The Sith smartly never made any demands on them, but many families pledged their loyalty to them by giving back, or by enlisting their children in their military.

"Strangely enough, if you allow most humans to just _be_ humans, you can make them look terrible. But if you spoon-feed and shower the proportionate few who are 'genetically superior', _just_ to the point where they do not take it for granted and you can create a set of loyal masses. Sith like to refer to this as the perfect race of humanity, one that they believe they can create and one that will be an enormous asset to their prosperity.

"Ideologically, that is the ultimate wish the Sith have for humanity, and if the Sith controlled the entire galaxy and implemented this plan, their goal would be just that. They would strive to make people better, not just so they can use them, but also because they believe this would destroy the very thing that makes war possible – the ability to question their own inferiority to a higher power, that is the dark side of the Force, but not to the Sith. Remember that Sith don't want most humans to know of their existence.

"Sith believe that with all the power they possess, they are doing the galaxy as well as humanity a favor. They don't see themselves as monsters. They see themselves as heroes and saviors, purifiers of the galaxy, who deserve all the power and benefits that they get for doing so much good, that the ends justify any and all means." Trek stood up from his chair and began to stretch. But Revan was still immersed in his own thoughts.

"_This sounds a bit too familiar…_" he thought. "_What was it that Lena said? The Force must keep everyone on the inside, and the lust for war within all living things is both a product and mask of a flaw. Sith have done the same thing…keep everyone on the inside, their will that they believe is inherently good to shape the fate of lesser beings in order to shield their weaknesses. _

"_Are the True Sith the ultimate masters of the Force? No…they can't be; if they were, they wouldn't be Sith. They are the masters of the dark side of the Force. They mastered survival a long time ago…yet they fear that with all their weaknesses, they might lose their power. So they create a system to keep everyone on the inside and oblivious to them…one that mirrors human nature and covers up the Sith's flaws…just like the Force!"_

Revan knew Trek was telling the truth; he had seen firsthand the hatred Sith seemed to have for him, and Revan of all people knew what it is like to turn from being the best of the enemy's ranks to the enemy's worst nightmare. There was not much to do with this information; if anything, Revan could not help but respect the Sith for actually being able to do this to half the galaxy. "_Even Kreia would believe this ludicrous…_"

However, there was something wrong with this picture. There was something else Trek wasn't telling him; probably because it was obvious, as the commander seemed to enjoy the spotlight. "_Sith want to end war…but they deliberately created all the conflict on the Tryton worlds. That couldn't have been an accident, and if the theory holds true, that would mean…_" Revan paused, but as the Force entered his thoughts again, the answer was clear – another weakness.

"You there?" said Trek, staring at Revan's face.

"Did you think you were doing humanity a favor while you worked for the Sith?" Revan asked.

"I was blind," said Trek. "Blinded by loyalty to the Sith; I trusted them to look after humanity, because it just seemed so apparent that some of humanity needed it, even though I had faith in our race."

"Tough to see the big picture when you're indoctrinated," said Revan.

"So?" said Trek, ignoring the remark about his character. "Now do you understand why that cop deserved death?"

Revan smirked but ignored the question. "I'm guessing the Sith have another weakness…a side effect of the dark side that makes the chaos a necessary source of their energy and power. That's why they keep that which is on the Trytons."

Trek nodded. "I knew you'd understand once I explained it," he said. "But now that you understand how the enemy thinks, you'll understand that killing Sith isn't enough. The humans who work for them and with them must also be punished; not just because of what they do, but because their role as humans make the Sith stronger. The weaker the Sith get, the more humanity is strengthened, even if it costs human lives. I believe you understand that."

Revan shook his head. "No, that's not the right way of thinking," he said. "I mean…yeah you could theoretically make the Sith weaker by killing all the humans that work for them, but they're all replaceable. You could theoretically make the Sith weaker by dropping a nuke on each Tryton world. That'd do the trick, but you wouldn't be doing humanity a favor."

Trek leaned back in his chair. "The reason I put so much resources into recruiting you is because you're a Force sensitive and it was clear you were no ally of the Sith. Now, I am no longer the only Force sensitive in this rebellion; I've got you, Myrther, and those other two you have with you. We can kill more Sith, but we can also kill more humans who work for them. If we take out Zazz's minions, then Zazz himself won't even need to be dealt with. He becomes the ruler of nothing but the sand he steps on."

Revan smirked again at the metaphor, but this time he knew he had the upper hand in the argument. He had more than a few ideas that he wanted to tell Trek, and he didn't even care if Trek would listen or not. He looked back up at him.

"That strategy would take you a few hundred lifetimes to accomplish. It's inefficient."

"It's the only way," said Trek.

"No," said Revan with a slight shake of his head. "It really isn't. You know the ways of the enemy, but you don't know how to deconstruct the threat properly. If this is your method, why don't you just nuke the Tryton worlds?" Revan was sarcastic in his comment, but Trek didn't appear to notice it.

"I may be a cold blooded killer, but I'm not going that far. It doesn't help humanity," the Commander said defensively.

"No it doesn't, which is why I'm not really suggesting it, Look, with all your resources so frivolously spent on killing pawn after pawn, you might as well be cutting off hair and fingernails. They grow back and no one cares. And believe me; I've had my experience in attacking an established institution." Revan said, remembering his adventures during the Jedi Civil War. "In my case, I wasn't trying to kill it – just sever the weak parts to make the strong parts even stronger. But if you're going to destroy a government, you take down the head. You take down the head, and then you make sure that head can never grow back. There's only one way to do that."

"And what would that be?" asked Trek in a very unimpressed tone.

Revan took a deep breath before speaking again. "The head is the Grand Sire. If the Sith are to be destroyed, Rixxon Zazz must die."

As soon as Trek noticed Revan was serious, he began laughing.

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight". This is a crazy important chapter, and we would understand if you are left confused by it, as it was confusing enough to write it. Please feel free to message either Sarge42 or I with questions about it._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	37. Chapter 36: Easier Said Than Done

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

**

**Chapter 36**

**Easier Said Than Done

* * *

**

Revan awkwardly watched as Trek continued laughing at his remark for another twenty seconds. He was now a little more flustered, but he let the commander enjoy himself. As Trek was explaining his own story as well as the dealings of the enemy, this flicker of a thought had been creeping up in Revan's mind, and it seemed to make more and more sense, even though it was crazy. Revan had already found himself making the case before he could actually get his thoughts together.

"Congratulations," said Trek, after dying his laughter down. "You're more messed up than I am."

"Look, I know the Force…" said Revan. "And I know what your rebellion can and cannot accomplish. You _don't_ have the military might to take the Sith head on. But, have you ever flirted with the idea of creating disturbances in the Force?" Revan didn't pause long enough for Trek to respond.

"The True Sith are one with the dark side. The dark side is not a power to be shared but Sith have mastered it well enough for it to flow easily through them. It is just as much a part of them as their own blood. But how do you think Rixxon Zazz or his apprentice or certain other individuals are more powerful than the rest? It's not because they were just born that way; it's because their bodies and souls are more than just a conduit for the dark side. They are a home. The energy and the power the True Sith feel do not only come from themselves or from what auras of energy are sputtered from the chaos of lesser humanity; they come from the Grand Sire and they come from that high council. The Force is an energy field created by all of us, all living things, but what makes certain individuals more powerful than others isn't dependent on those people necessarily being born that way. It is what they do to _earn_ the power of the dark side, and what they do _with_ the power."

"Which makes Zazz all the more difficult an opponent to destroy," said Trek. "FYI, I know the Force too. Look Revan I appreciate your idealism and your simplistic view of how to kill the Sith but it'd be easier to just wipe out everyone else…"

"You're not listening," interrupted Revan with a cold force in his voice. "Maybe you never pondered killing Zazz because it seemed more satisfying to kill everyone else instead and make him the king of nothing, or because you just don't think it's possible; but I can prove to you that it is."

"Now I'm _really_ interested," said Trek with a sarcastic tone, but Revan didn't care.

"First of all, if history has taught us anything it's that you can kill anyone. I don't know about your history but my history is filled with it. Hundreds…thousands of dead politicians, dead Jedi Masters, dead Sith Lords, dead chancellors, dead council members, dead religious figures, countless assassinations. Some of them had armies around them. Others were tough enough to take on armies by themselves. And some had both going for them. I've had my own share of killing people like these, my dark Jedi predecessors and successors have killed them too. Ask my assassin droid; he's had more than a fair share of killing people like these. I may not be able to comprehend the depth of the Grand Sire's power having never met him, but he's one guy. Even if he can shove his fist through a man's chest at quarter strength or trembles the ground every time he takes a step, he can still be killed. Nothing, _nothing_ is impossible with the Force."

Trek's expression had changed slightly from hearing Revan's point. Though he was far from convinced, he could not help but to be impressed. He was happy no one else in the room was able to see Revan like this, because Revan was demonstrating more leadership capabilities than he was. "Still way easier said than done," said Trek. "You cut off his escape routes; he has the ability to warp himself to another planet."

"But does one as powerful as the Grand Sire ever run from a straight fight?" Trek chuckled a bit and then shook his head. "I may not be a Sith, but I've got a fair amount of experience thinking like one. Warping himself out of there probably takes a lot out of him, right?"

"I don't know, I've never seen him do it," said Trek. "Revan this is crazy. You are talking about dueling the Grand Sire of the Sith!"

"Then here's what you do," said Revan, ignoring Trek's attempt to portray his idea as ridiculous. "No way does someone that powerful just sit on Voss twiddling his thumbs for all those years. Don't draw him out, but wait for him to leave with whatever envoy he brings with him. We do things your way; clean the house of everyone else and pit him alone. If he stays and fights, we'll kill him. If he tries to warp out of there, we do everything we can to stop him."

"And if we can't?" said Trek. "Then we're back to square one; all we've done is to have killed that many more of his minions. Then there's also our body count to consider…"

"That's your problem as a leader, Trek," Revan commented. His tone was as if he had always wanted to say that. "Your missions all go according to plan and they're just too damn easy. It looks noble and heroic but it accomplishes nothing. No plan is perfect but if my plan succeeds it will amount to more than you probably ever have done."

Trek looked a bit offended. "You've been in my operations for just under a week and you're already judging me!" said Trek in a very defensive tone. "What the hell do you know? Sith claim to have no fear, but I have disproved that theory. Until you came along, I was the only human Force sensitive they ever cared about and I've killed more Sith than you and the rest of my men combined. It's been less than a decade since I broke from them and I already have an exceptional fleet pitted against them."

"All excellent qualities of a captain," dismissed Revan. "Not of a general."

"Careful Revan," said Trek. "You understand the enemy now just as we do but you won't be able to do any of this without my help. This is still _my_ rebellion and even if we go along with your plan you are going to need us. Let's say all this goes according to your plan, what do you think is going to happen? You think the disturbance in the Force is going to be so great that Sith are just going to start _melting?_"

"That's the other problem," said Revan. "You can't see the big picture. You're not far-sighted enough. You handle things well at a small and local level, killing one group after another, never enough to really make that big of a difference; again…good qualities of a captain. If Sith are afraid of you, it's because you're making reproduction that much harder but not because you pose any significant threat to their establishment. It's not just about killing the Grand Sire or to die trying. It's about creating a hurricane of pain and agony for the Sith that will make them helpless to our mercy…or lack thereof.

"One way or another, between the best of us, we _will_ take the Grand Sire down. But that's not all we're going to do. The disturbance in the Force created from the death of their lord will be so traumatic, such a strong flash-bang grenade to the face, if the Sith _don't_ start melting, they will still be vulnerable on _every single_ front! We will have days, maybe even weeks of freedom to completely destroy the entire Sith Empire starting with the most critical points of infrastructure and working our way down. We'll be able to drop a nuke down on Voss and all they'll be able to do is duck and cover. In the grand sphere of things, prosperity trickles down; so does failure. If the apex of their power fails, so will the rest of them. Humanity will rise to take their place in power, and there will be an everlasting peace. You'll be able to hunt them down and slaughter them to your heart's content. You can go to town and burn it to the ground…and my work will be done."

Trek knew very little about Revan other than the information he had from the True Sith's file on him. For instance, he had no knowledge of who Bastila Shan was, or of Revan's intimate connection with anyone. But Revan stopped talking, not just because he felt he made his point, but because his thoughts shifted back to Bastila. It had been so long since he had last thought or dreamt of her. So much had been happening so fast, so many different sides and emotions had reached the surface from entering the Unknown Regions to heisting and sneaking around rich men's compound, and then to where he was now. He had been so busy being a detective to intel about the Sith, even to making ridiculous choices like bringing Cassandra on board without knowing what she had to offer, something Bastila would have vehemently disapproved of.

Then when all the information came his way like a brick to his head, he was busy trying to process all of it. First there was trying to figure out how to get Lena back from Sith captivity. Now that she was completely off the grid and on her own, he was on his own too, and left to process all the information Trek had just thrown his way. The True Sith were far more deceptive than Malak's generic dark Jedi could ever hope to be, just as Lena had suspected. Not only had they complete control of the Unknown Regions, but they had the means and the intention of doing the same to the rest of the galaxy. Not only that, but once in full control, they were going to turn every big city planet into another Nar Shaddaa, rendering nearly all of humanity helpless and fending for themselves like cavemen, a chaotic galaxy for which the goal would be to strengthen the dark side of the Force within every True Sith as if it was their daily bread.

During another shining half-conscious moment of the charisma kicking in, Revan suddenly remembered why he had put himself through so much hell. It wasn't just to preserve the Republic and preserve democracy. It was to preserve the lives of those he cared the most about, the main of which being Bastila. He didn't so much wonder what she was up to or whether or not she would be okay; merely the thought of her that so deeply affirmed everything he had just said to Trek about taking the True Sith out of play forever. The self-conscious unsure part of Revan was temporarily hidden deep beneath the surface.

There was a slight lurch in Revan's stomach at the thought of the possibility of taking charge of the Kraxis Rebellion again, but hopefully he would not have to. Trek seemed competent and though he was stubborn, he needed guidance. The man was a walking weapon of mass destruction against the True Sith but all of his strategies and tactics to fighting them were wrong – pitifully justified by his history with them and his desire to make them afraid of him. Trek believed that he was using the enemy's very weaknesses against them, but he really wasn't. No Sith would ever want to be in the same room with him, but the man was not making any long lasting effect. All he had done was successfully recruited a military of his own, by proving that this kind of thing could be done. Of course this was needed, and the strength of the Kraxis Rebellion was quite impressive, even to Revan and given their situation. All they needed now was proper guidance, an arrow in the right direction to truly make them a force to be reckoned with.

But Revan's thoughts were interrupted by Trek, who was impressed, but not enough to convince him that this was the right course of action. "Right of course; the galaxy will be free and we'll all live happily ever after," mused Trek. "Is that what you're implying?"

"No," said Revan with more confidence. "There is never a happy ending to war – only triumph of the righteous. I didn't just come here to present ideas. I have the ability to help you and help get the job done; but if there is one thing that I know for sure it is that neither of us will defeat the Sith without each other's help. I'm on your side and you can trust me when I tell you that I know what I'm doing."

* * *

_Back on the Ebon Hawk…_

"Revan still in Trek's office?" Dustil asked as he came into the cargo hold where Yuthura was meditating with her shoto. "Oh sorry…I'll leave you alone." Yuthura made no response, and Dustil left.

Dustil moved about the ship. He felt like he was just making pacing rounds, not even sure of what he was thinking about. His role as a crewmember seemed more vital than ever now that Lena was no longer here. But he hadn't forgotten about what she had said to him. He had to prove his worth to Revan, and even though Revan had shown charity in bringing him along, Dustil felt like he had almost been taking this for granted. He was the primary pilot, and his skills as one were exceptional, even better than Carth. But Dustil wanted more.

Revan had made it clear that another reason he was bringing both Yuthura and Dustil along was because they were both former Sith just like Lena and him. It was imperative for his party members to have at least a general understanding of both sides of the Force, while still leaning away from the dark side. Revan's sparing and saving of their lives had subsequently turned them into loyal allies, not so much interested in following Revan into hell and back, but to repay the debt and move on to something bigger and more worthy in their reborn lives.

This was the empty feeling that was eating at Dustil a little bit. He was a pilot with a great sense of humor, but it almost seemed like the Force training and all the potential that Uthar Wynn hyped up was not so meaningful anymore.

These thoughts weren't leading Dustil anywhere. He noticed that his posture had sunk a bit, and he almost walked into a wall. The most optimistic he could become was when he thought of Cassandra. The loss of her brother hit her very hard, and though they hadn't known each other for very long, Dustil couldn't help but to sympathize with her more than he might sympathize with others. Perhaps it was because he too remembered the pain…the agony of losing a close family member. Cassandra wasn't talking for the past few days. She was either sleeping or uselessly moping around the ship. Dustil hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her since almost immediately after Trek revealed that her brother was gone. "_I should go see how she's doing…no harm in that._"

As he moved through the garage toward the Starboard Dormitory, there was a Kraxis Rebel soldier standing there, waiting for him. Dustil stopped and looked at him, and the soldier returned the gaze, but acted like he was waiting for Yuthura, who was the ranking member of the _Ebon Hawk_.

"Can I help you?" Dustil said.

"Yeah," said the soldier. "I have a message from Mr. Jace Myrther. He was wondering if your crew had any spare computer parts or metal components that he might be able to use. We gave him access to some of our own, but he thinks it wasn't enough."

"What's he working on?" replied Dustil.

"He didn't say," said the soldier.

Dustil nodded. "Fair enough…I'm sure Revan won't mind."

Together, they lugged the two of the three crates down one floor and a little ways across the hall.

When they found Jace, he had goggles on and was soldiering wires together, trying to reformat a computer chip.

"Just leave the stuff where you are; I'll get to them," he said.

"What are you working on?" asked Dustil. "Maybe I can help…?"

"No, you probably can't," replied Jace, still not looking at them. "What's in the crates?"

"Sith tech," said the soldier as he left the room, but Dustil remained.

"So you're the Jedi, huh?" Dustil asked him.

"I guess," said Jace. "You look like the sort who used to fight them."

"How can you tell? You're not even looking at me."

Jace raised his eyes, somewhat excited that he could boast a bit. "If I'm a Jedi…I don't need to look."

"I'm just making friendly conversation given that we're all on the same boat."

"Okay," said Jace, taking off the goggles and putting down the soldering iron. "Humor me."

"Look in a mirror," snarled Dustil.

"Clever," said Jace. "Like no one's ever said that one before…"

"Actually I'm being serious," said Dustil. "Here…" Dustil picked up a small mirror on the table and held it up. "See? Your lip is bleeding. What'd you do? Make out with a wampa?"

"Actually I was just killing Sith with my brain," mused Jace. "Ever done that?"

"Killed Sith? Sure…a few."

Jace smirked. "I believe you."

"No you don't," sneered Dustil. "You think I fought Jedi."

"I think you fought both," said Jace.

"Yeah well, I never fought a True Sith," said Dustil. "I'm more of the air cover guy."

"Drop the 'True'," said Jace. "Sith are Sith."

"No, they really aren't," said Dustil. "I would know; I used to be a Dark Jedi…we called ourselves Sith. A little pretentious if you ask me now that we know what Sith are really like. A single True Sith comes to Korriban, he could have probably wiped out the whole academy on his own. They aren't the same…"

"They're the same because they use the same power and they meet the same end," retorted Jace. "Good guys crush their heads with metal boots…isn't that how all the stories go?"

Dustil looked at Jace with a bit of perplexity. Something was off about the kid, yet he was all the smarter in being able to read him. He began to ponder the psychological effects of Trek's interrogation. Of course, Dustil didn't know anything about psychology, so this was a lost cause. "Are you…alright?"

"Just stick me in a lab and give me parts," sneered Jace, looking back down at the chip again.

"You mind telling me what Trek did to you?"

"You don't want to know…"

"What if I do?"

"Then ask Trek," said Jace. "He'll probably have a more _impressive_ story."

"Impressive?" questioned Dustil "Why? Did you not break? What did he want to know? Are you trained to withstand interrogation?"

"No," said Jace. "Pain can be controlled…you just disconnect it. The real torture is in the head…something they don't teach you at Dreshdae Academy for gizka clubbers."

Dustil smirked. "See Jace, I don't think you're as cold or as cynical as you make out to be…"

"You don't know me," snapped Jace.

Dustil furrowed his brow. "Why? Just because I don't live your life; if that's even what you can call it. Forgive me for not being half blond, half T3 unit."

Jace started chuckling. He took off his goggles again and looked back at Dustil. "You're alright kid, you know that?"

"The name's Dustil…Dustil Onasi; don't call me kid," he returned the smile.

"Pleasure's all mine" said Jace in a sarcastic tone. "I'm a little busy…can't give my full attention."

"You never said what you were doing," said Dustil.

"And I ain't going to," replied Jace. "Come back another time..."

"Sure thing," said Dustil, in a voice like he meant it. "By the way…you wouldn't happen to know what Revan and the boss man are talking about right now, would you?"

"Don't know, don't care…"

Dustil smirked and nodded as he left the room. He couldn't help but to laugh a little as he exited. He understood why Revan was not too keen on the boy's attitude. But Jace seemed rather innocent in his mind, simply someone difficult to get to know, but worth trying. And though he didn't know it, Jace already considered Dustil to be a friend.

"Dustil, you copy?" came Revan's voice into his comm.

"Yeah I'm here. What's up?"

"Get back here."

* * *

_Three hours later…_

"So…" said Revan. "What do you think?"

"Sounds like a suicide run," said Yuthura. "I'm in."

"Statement: As am I, Master," began HK-47. "I eagerly look forward to helping you dispatch the meatbags with overwhelming force and no remorse."

"You've never beat down a Sith with your bare hands," said Dustil to Yuthura. "What makes you think we can kill their leader already?"

"Oh, you wanted _me_ to help you kill the Sire?" said Yuthura in a half serious voice. "I thought I was just going to help clear the path to him, and then you and Trek were going to take care of it…and I was going to watch. Maybe make some popcorn?"

"Minions and grunts of the human race, I can deal with," said Dustil. "I don't know how much use I'd be against a Sith.

"They're not as hard as you may think," said Revan. "Just fight on _your_ terms; don't let them use the Force and don't go hand to hand. Let _them _go hand to hand, and you'll notice they can get sloppy pretty quickly, at which point you can lay them in horizontal meditation."

"If you're you…" snarled Dustil.

"Believe me Dustil, you killing Sith is not what I'm concerned about. You're asking if this is crazy…of course it's crazy, but there is no other way to destroy the Sith without full scale war. Remember what we came here to do. We came here to learn about and discover a way to defeat the True Sith without getting the Jedi or the Republic involved…with all that political and social muck gone awry."

"And you think there is no other way besides this?"

Revan shook his head. "Trek had the answers we've been searching for. And he also has the experience, the resolve, and the means to help us pull this off. This was my idea, but it is his operation; and believe me, neither of us will be able to do it without the others' help. We didn't come here to dissolve ourselves into the ranks of dissidents. We didn't even know dissidents existed…we came here to win and we came here to prevent the unthinkable from happening to us. We're not stupid…we don't have personal grudges against them like Trek does. Our hearts and minds are pure and with the Force at our beck and call…we are going to make sure the Sith never threaten our galaxy ever again."

"Here we go again," said Yuthura with a somewhat fickle smile.

"I know what you're thinking," continued Revan, ignoring Yuthura's comment. "This would be a lot more doable if Lena was here. She'd be all in, and between all of us, we can bring Zazz down. But Lena's not here; she knew the risks when she came with us; she knew the risks before she found me, before she trained me, and before she felt the need to vouch for the two of you coming with us. We've done all we can for her, and while I don't like leaving people behind, the war goes on. I'm not giving up on her just yet, but she is no longer the priority, and she understood that. But her temporary loss is not in vein, nor shall it be. The best of her teachings is passed on through me, and under our watch, we have seen both of you become two of the best warriors I have ever seen, more than capable of taking on True Sith. You are not the dark Jedi apprentices you once were, and I would not have suggested this to you _or_ Trek if I didn't think it could be done."

"I know you'd tell me that nothing is impossible with the Force," said Dustil. "But it's not of much comfort; this might as well be impossible."

"Impossible missions are what we do best," replied Revan. "Coming into the Unknown Regions was impossible, but we did it. All we had was a dusty old map with hyperspace coordinates we didn't know were genuine, but they proved to work. We came here to hunt an enemy we knew nothing about. Almost four months passed; we're still alive, and we're kicking. The Sith may not be afraid of us yet, but we are well past the point of being scared of them. We know them, we know their ways, and we now know how to hit them. We've been more than lucky, but opportunity like this knocks at our door very quietly, and we have to seize it. This must be done, but we will be patient; we will not rush in and we will move with both our eyes open. Take heart, Dustil. We haven't come this far, drilling our way through closed doors to stop now."

Revan spoke again with the confidence he was famous for, but unlike before, that wasn't stopping him from doubting his own words. The unsure part of Revan that had been locked away for so long was slowly creeping up into the middle of his thoughts. His brain was multitasking between what he was saying and what he was actually thinking.

"_Dustil ain't all that wrong…damn how I wish someone more articulate can argue the other side. What the hell am I missing here?_"

It was true though; Revan convinced everyone, yet he himself was still up against the wall on this issue, like it was a combination of common sense and paranoia slapping him around.

"_This is all a little too true…too coincidental to be real. There's got to be something I'm missing. Killing the Grand Sire? Really? Such an ill contrived idea has never been contemplated? Yeah right…_"

It did seem quite ridiculous, the notion that no one ever thought about it, probably just as ridiculous as the actual thought itself. Revan knew the wonders it would accomplish if he could actually pull it off. The wound created in the Force would be a blow just as strong if not stronger than the Mass Shadow Generator. The Sith would be helpless; even Trek admitted that. Of course…getting there was more than a children's obstacle course.

"_It has to be possible though. If there's anything Lena has shown me, it is that nothing is impossible with the Force. What did I see in my dream? Successful infiltration…alarms eventually go off…standing in front of a dead Grand Sire. Trek was next to me…at least Yuthura and Jace there too…Lena wasn't there…just like she isn't here now. Pieces add up…but that doesn't make what we're doing any less crazy. It just proves it's possible; I don't have to listen to destiny. Yet…this fits my notion; too many variables!_"

This was the third time it seemed the Force was telling him something that seemed so logical and practical, and yet the fact that it was the Force sending another message was making him uneasy. He had broken free; not that he had the power to change the Force and send a shockwave through the galaxy eradicating the dark side forever, but he could understand when the Force was trying to tell him something.

"_The Force makes sense, yet again…the good nature of the will exposed on an individual level? Too easy…_" he thought. But this was a little too small on the thinking, and he knew it. There was probably nowhere he could go but in circles on that path. But in the big picture, he had seen visions of himself and Trek, standing triumphant over the corpse of Rixxon Zazz, a plan he came up with that even Trek admitted would actually work if it could be done. The visions suggested that it could be done, and Revan knew that if it was to happen, he would have to put his full heart and mind into it.

"_Take heart, Revan…_" he thought.

Meanwhile, Dustil was taken aback by Revan's charisma, shining brightly once again. "I wish T3 could have provided instrumental music for this type of speech."

T3-M4 let out a few buzzes while shaking its head.

"You didn't need the speech," said Revan. "It's not like you aren't just as crazy as I am."

Dustil sighed at the accurate point. "If you really think you can do this, then I'm in; might take Cassandra a little more convincing though."

"You bet I'm in," said Cassandra, walking into the Main Hold after eavesdropping on the conversation. "You think I'm going to stand by and weep forever? I intend on helping to fight back, and if Dustil can teach me the basics on flying this thing, I'll make sure he's of use to you on the ground."

"Sorry we held the meeting without you…" said Dustil awkwardly. "We just thought…"

"Forget it," replied Cassandra with a smile. "I understand."

* * *

_Three days later…_

"Who's brilliant idea was this?" said Jono, in an obviously sarcastic voice.

The captains of every ship in the fleet were in their respective private chambers and holographically connected to everyone else, like a board meeting. Trek sat at the head of the group, but he knew that it would be tough to sell this plan to the rest of them. But he had come prepared.

"Revan's," replied Trek.

"Does he have any idea the enemy we're fighting?" Jono replied.

"I told him everything," Trek replied. "But Revan's not here right now, and he's not in charge. This is still our operation."

"If the plan goes to hell, does it really matter whose operation it was?" replied Lieutenant Commander Knox of the _Jackknife_. "Sorry Commander, but I'm with Jono on this one. It's too risky."

"I wouldn't expect any of you to necessarily understand it," said Trek. "After all, what we're doing requires a strong grasp of knowledge on the Force, and…"

"That's what worries me the most," said Jono. "This is supposed to be a military operation, and we're supposed to operate based on what we know and what we can do. This seems way out of our league."

"Relax," said Lieutenant Commander Temple of the _Vendetta_. "I don't think Revan is planning on usurping authority and leading the rebellion. He'd have to pry it from Commander Trek's cold dead hands."

"All truth behind that aside," interrupted Trek. "That's not the point. There's a question all of you should be asking that might put this into a better context."

There was a dead silence among the officers until Lieutenant Commander Madds of the _Saber Tooth_ spoke up. "Alright, I'll bite," he said. "This is a ground operation only, but our strength is in the air…you'll be sitting ducks. Can't Zazz teleport himself out of there or something?"

"That's not the question," said Trek. "Tactically, yes, that's a concern; we'll have Revan and the Jedi with us…that twi'lek Yuthura Ban seems like a promising fighter and squad leader. Myrther certainly proved himself…of course I'll never tell him that. But it's not like we won't have you cover us from the air. Think, big picture."

"This time I'll bite," said Archie. "Say you pull this off…what's the next step?"

Trek snapped his fingers and stood up. "Jackpot!" he said in a somewhat fake exclamation. "That's the key-most element in this operation," he continued. "Revan didn't come to me with that thought on his mind; he developed it as I was explaining everything to him."

"You sure that was a good idea?" asked Rainer. "Not that I don't think Revan's genuine…I just think it might have been a little early to bring him in."

"He's a Force sensitive and he needed to know," said Trek. "You should have seen how hard he tried to make it look like he was from around here." Trek snickered a bit. "It was a little sad."

"He isn't?" Rainer asked. Trek shook his head. "Where's he from then? Crispin?"

"He's from the Unknown Territories," said Trek. "It was pretty easy to figure out; he talked about stuff that doesn't exist out here; he didn't understand some basic stuff that a lot of us take for granted in terms of knowledge. Vesta's sister knew more about the Sith than he did."

"What the hell is he doing all the way out here then?"

"Same thing we're doing," said Trek. "Sith don't know him personally; only _of_ him, some heroic exploits back where he's from. That's why I trust him."

"We're drifting here," said Jono. "This ain't about Revan. It's about his suicidal tendencies. You didn't answer Saww's question."

"Revan brought to my attention the impact of Zazz's death upon the rest of the Sith. Their lives are deliberately interwoven through the dark side of the Force; their power comes from each other and from the ill emotions of humans.

"But the Force is like a child; you cause a disturbance of some kind like smacking a kid upside the head, it creates a ripple in the Force that those connected can feel and they get hurt from it…especially when you catch them unprepared. No Sith has ever worried about that and the Grand Sire's never been targeted for assassination except by his own successor in the continuous cycle. But the apprentice is a very long way from being strong enough to match his master. Zazz is perceived as invincible. But Revan was right; he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of us.

"If you take him out, that creates a large window of opportunity for us to do the things we've always wanted to do. The next step…as Saww correctly pointed out is the complete and utter eradication of the Sith race. With Zazz dead, they'll be disorganized, fumbling about; his apprentice won't be able to keep things together for he himself will bleed profusely from the ears by the disturbance.

"I've just forwarded a list of potential targets of infrastructure for us to hit. We can start with the defense grid around Tryton. We can go through the hypergate, right before destroying it. From that point on, we can split the fleet up and go after the places of high value; the mines and supply caches on Azarith, the Becton strongholds, every Sith space station we have data on, the Sith Academy on Mengskin, and just about anything and everything that draws breath on Shikara and Voss. The Sith will never know what hit them, and by the time they're able to figure it all out, there will be too few of them to stop us. We'll use our strength from the air, and we'll hunt them to extinction, and uplift humanity to the prosperity it deserves."

"Quite a speech," said Rainer. "What makes now a prime opportunity to do this kind of thing, as opposed to another time when we're stronger?

"Two things," explained Trek. "As successful as we've been recruiting soldiers to our cause, we haven't been a rebellious organization long enough to make this a war of attrition. Revan pointed out that much of what we've been doing is miniscule; we're not a big enough thorn in the Sith's side. Though they are hunting us, we can still disappear and lay low, and it'd be of little consequence. Sooner or later, people are going to realize that we're hardly scratching the surface in our damage to the empire. We can't let that happen.

"Second, we have Revan. Revan won't admit to it, and I'm not sure how many people can actually see it, but that man has been through a bigger hell than I have and he is far more powerful than me. I think his modesty forbids him from thinking about this much but as he found us useful in accomplishing his mission, I have slowly come to realize how useful he can be. He's no soldier; he's a warrior like me, only well mannered. Revan is a means to the end that we've been seeking and I intend to use it. He can't do this without us and we can't do it without him."

"Yes, we read the reports on the Tryton and Shikara ground missions," said Jono. "He can handle himself, but this is one hell of a gamble. He's still the mysterious stranger to us, no?"

"Not really," said Archie in response. "He's…peculiar sometimes but he gets the job done. If the Commander trusts him to the extent at which he appears to, I'm not sure how much I can actually object…"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Though he had achieved a little peace and quiet in the port dorm of his ship, Revan's thoughts were still turbulent; he had hoped the meditation would calm his mind. He was at ease, no tinkering with his lightsaber or levitating in the air, merely at his center, breathing his emotions in and out.

"_This still sounds crazy, and yet…it has to be done,_" he thought. It seemed like he was placing a lot of bets too; he was betting that Zazz would be in a vulnerable position, that aside from Zazz's bodyguards, that there would not be other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with him at the time, especially his apprentice, who would also be trouble if encountered. He was betting that Zazz would actually _want_ to fight them, likely out of his sense of pride, and he was betting that between himself and Trek, Zazz could actually be defeated.

"_It can be done…even if Trek doesn't believe it; even if the Grand Sire's busy fighting us and too distracted to deal with anything else, that alone would give an opportunity for the rebels to destroy something critical. Would that weaken him? That would depend on what it is…damn it! Things can never be this straight forward…and yet when they do seem straight forward, it's only because it's missing a certain dimension. Which one is it? Am I thinking too much on this, or just not hard enough? By the time I'll know for sure, it'll be too late for it to matter._"

Revan sighed. "_If only Bastila were here…_"

Revan knew that he couldn't keep this up. Telling himself to take heart was going to have to register at some point. It had been three and a half days of mental torture, even though everyone else seemed on board. He was actually happy when Cassandra came in and interrupted him, to get a break from the troublesome thoughts that clouded his mind. For some reason, she looked rather lovely, mostly of natural beauty, only artificially enhanced by a light flowery perfume she had on.

"Hey," she said, her head poked into the room, knocking on the wall. "I hope I'm not…"

"You aren't," Revan cut her off. "Come in."

She came in and sat down on the floor in front of Revan. "Meditating again?"

Revan's instincts seemed to direct his voice as he smiled at the question. "Clearing my head…you look like you've got something on your mind. How can I help?"

She shrugged. "I haven't really been too social over the week."

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm better," said Cassandra. "I mean…we parted on pleasant terms, and though I wanted so bad to see him again, there wasn't anything I said or didn't say that I regret. And I mean…he went out a hero, and he's probably in a better place, right?"

"He's one with the Force," said Revan. "His soul has moved on, so yes, I think so."

"Right…there is no death, there is the Force," she said. Revan raised his brow, impressed that she knew the last and most truthful part of the Jedi Code. "Did I say it right?" He nodded with a newfound smile. "Your crew is entertaining," she added. "I can't say I've gotten to know them too well though, so I can't really tell if they like me or not."

"Don't worry about it," said Revan. "Yuthura is a professional. It takes a while for her to actually warm up to you and get her to open up believe me, but she can work well with anybody."

"What about Dustil?" Cassandra was desperately trying to hide the cute flushing on her face, which Revan had already noticed.

Revan smirked, but he didn't let her know that he noticed it. "What about Dustil?" he cleverly asked.

"I don't know," said Cassandra. "He seems nice, though I haven't seen him in too many places aside from the helm. Anything about him I should know?"

"His father is a very good friend of mine," said Revan. "He'll be an Admiral for the Republic eventually….if he isn't one already. Dustil doesn't have his father's eyes, but he has the face and the skills…and the Force."

"So he can also do the stuff you can do?"

Revan nodded. "You should ask him about it. Get him talking…he doesn't shut up unless you tell him to."

"As long as it means I don't have to talk much," she said. "I'm always afraid of saying something stupid."

"It's alright," said Revan. "People who dedicate their lives to studying and using the Force like us can always use another friend."

"Well…what about relationships?" she asked. Revan immediately wondered if she was either curious or wanted to know if her crush on Dustil had anything promising about it.

"_Perhaps a bit of both,_" he thought. "_She ought to know…_"

"The rules of the Jedi Order strictly forbid romantic involvement of any kind," Revan said in an intentionally stern voice. "Attachment is forbidden, possession is forbidden, compassion – which most would define as unconditional love is central to a Jedi's life. Essentially Jedi are encouraged to love all people, but not sexually." However, noticing her perplexed expression, he smiled and charmed his voice. "But the truth is…none of us are Jedi, not anymore."

"I see," said Cassandra, flushing even more at her own ignorance.

"Any other questions…while I'm here?"

"I don't know," she said. "I guess I just wanted to get to know you all better, that's all."

"Yeah, sorry we got you talking a lot on our way to Gunthamore," said Revan. "You probably know by now…we're from Republic space, far to the east of the Crispin Asteroid Belt."

"So I guess…this place is all Unknown Territories to you?" she chided.

"We used the term 'Unknown Regions'," responded Revan, matching her smile. "Honestly, we couldn't really come up with a plan because we knew nothing about this place…we just had to take things one step at a time, which was easy when we saw all the civilization here. Landing a job with Gunthamore, performing heists for a couple people, Ardao included, and then stumbled into you when we went to kill Frinch."

"Strange happenings," said Cassandra. "I guess we both got lucky that night, right?"

Revan chuckled. "I still couldn't believe that with all the sneaking on the compound and that elaborate plan to blackmail Frinch, that you were so new to crime…"

"Yeah, not one of my finest moments," said Cassandra with a blush. "But I definitely have you to thank for getting me out of trouble, and taking me with you."

"Well, I always had the idea to make an ally or two while I was here…" said Revan. "I expected this to be a much slower process, but we got too lucky…then when Lena tried to tell me that, I brushed it aside, thinking she was just delirious."

"Don't feel too bad," said Cassandra. "You did everything you could…you even pushed the tracks back down and saved everyone on the train, which is one of the most impressive things I've ever seen."

"All because Trek happened to notice me and he wanted me on his team," said Revan. "We've been handed a lot of things…we haven't even been here that long. Hopefully Trek will take my advice and help craft the plan to kill the Grand Sire. With all that's happened, and with all that exists out here…it just seems that simple; yet no one dared to think it."

"Maybe it's for the same reason no one likes to say 'Kraxis Rebellion' out loud," jested Cassandra. "Fear of spontaneous combustion?"

Revan started laughing, almost not realizing that Dustil was now standing outside with his head poked in and knocking on the walls.

"Come in," said Cassandra.

"I'm not intruding or anything, right?" Dustil said.

"No, I don't think so…Revan?"

"No," said Revan.

"Thought I heard something about spontaneous combustion?" said Dustil. "I've always wanted to see a Sith burst into flames."

"I think Trek's done something like that," said Revan. "You should ask him about it."

"Well I'd rather not disturb the good commander. I'm sure he has…commanding-type things to do." Cassandra flushed and giggled a little bit, which made Dustil smile. "Besides," he followed up, while looking at her. "I haven't really talked to you in a while. You feeling alright?"

"Much better," said Cassandra. "Thank you."

"Yeah well…I know what it's like to lose a close family member…glad to see you're not as big a wreck as I was."

This caused a brief awkward silence between everyone, a hint Revan noticed almost immediately that he should probably leave the room. Cassandra and Dustil were only smiling at each other, and Cassandra was again trying very hard to hide her blush.

"Well I guess I'll leave the two of you to talk about…whatever it is you're going to talk about," said Revan, trying to pass off like he didn't notice the subtle flirting between the two. "Just a couple questions for Dustil; I only see one box of the goods we got off Tryton in the garage. Where are the other two?"

"Jace has them," said Dustil. "That's not a problem is it?"

"As long as he makes good use of them," replied Revan. "Where are the droids?"

"HK is down at the shooting range," said Dustil. "He found out they were using living prisoners for non-lethal target practice…I don't think I've ever seen him run away that fast." Cassandra's facial expression was of both shock and humor.

"And T3?"

"He's helping Jace," said Dustil.

"What is that boy up to?" asked Revan with a furrowed brow.

Dustil shrugged his shoulders. "Hell if I know…something big, I imagine…he hasn't told anyone. I don't think the kid has much of a life…"

Revan nodded in acknowledgment of Dustil's point. "Carry on."

Revan began moving away, leaving the two teenagers to socialize. "_Nice kid,_" he thought of Cassandra. "_Very shy…definitely something between them, but nothing sinister. Problematic?_" Revan shook his head to himself. "_No…not in the slightest. Still…point of curiosity about what Dustil finds attractive in women. Similar age, natural beauty, she certainly looks nice, dresses to impress. Shyness may be a factor…impossible to tell without knowing what Selene was like…though that would be prying. Bastila and I are none of their business…those two are none of mine._"

This was certainly not something that Revan had intended to ponder, but it was certainly entertaining to gossip and exchange hypotheticals with himself. He walked out of the ship and began making his way to the elevator to check out the shooting range and HK-47's performance in comparison to the others.

But his belt began to vibrate as he noticed that Trek was paging him. "Yes?"

"I've discussed the issue extensively with the others," said Trek through the comm..

"And?"

"The vote is unanimous. We're a go…"

* * *

_We hope you have enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight". Though the overall story has arced in more of an adventure-like way with lots of different elements, this is the final plan for Revan and his allies. The next two chapters will feature a time skip and the execution of the plan, that will hopefully bring everything together and tie up all loose ends. That will lead us to an epic 4-chapter finale that we are in the midst of perfecting!_

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42_


	38. Chapter 37: The Calm Before the Storm

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

**

**Chapter 37**

**The Calm Before the Storm

* * *

**

Two weeks had passed since the military executives agreed that assassination of Rixxon Zazz would be the wisest course of action despite all the dangers. Much of this time was occupied through hyperspace travel as well as the occasional day and night camping underneath the radar of the patrolling enemy fleets.

They slowly closed in on the planet Mengskin, deep in True Sith territories, a world more than a few light years to the west and slightly south of Voss. Its system was secluded and there weren't too many hyperspace routes that led to it. The system was in visual range of the Psytosis Nebula and the nebula was like a southwestern wall to the Unknown Regions. All knowledge of it speculated that its western block marked the very end of the whole galaxy. The nebula scrambled all communications and no ship that passed beyond it had ever returned. To a degree, it resembled a boundary between Republic space and the Unknown Regions, a path which the Ebon Hawk had found by accident but could now map out safe routes through. However, it was only a matter of time before they would find yet another wall in the way. On the far western side, this was apparently it.

But it also seemed like the nebula provided a natural corner for the Sith empire. On the map, the overall nebula looked like a slightly obtuse angle, the wall blocking a chunk of the southern territory as well. However, it was known that beyond the southern part of the nebula were a few scattered systems, all of which a great distance from each other. Much of it was a void of empty space, places Trek had found to hide in during his days of mourning and early rebellion. These areas were far to the south of the Sith empire, and there was hardly any activity from any intelligent life form at all. The Sith had control over one planet called Chestre, a moonless world in its own system that was used by the Sith to monitor activity in the overall region. Despite all the military operations in the area, no system was even close to it yet it was the Sith's way of providing a disincentive for pirate gangs or other hostile factions from trying to disturb the peace.

Nevertheless the rebel fleet was north of the nebula and near Mengskin. Trek had set up a small base of operations on the most distant moon of Mengskin with a surface of nothing but craters, craters large enough to conceal dreadnought ships. The natural gas found in areas deep into the heart of the planet, if mixed with several coolants that were abundant in the galaxy could create an artificial fuel for the ships and it was there that the fleet began to lay low for a while.

The moon barely had any atmosphere, very low gravity on the outside but the resources for terraforming were so deep the only hospitable area was deep inside the craters. Luckily humans had discovered this long ago and had built docking bays for dreadnought class vessels as well as taken efforts to hollow out caverns for a secret base of operations. Trek had discovered this when he was putting down the original Kraxis Rebellion but his report to the Grand Sire did not have this detail in it for the purposes of making it concise.

Trek had made a speech to the entire fleet over the intercom telling them what he had decided. What surprised him the most was the amount of positive feedback he got from the crew. He never asked for it but he had a feeling that many in the fleet would object to the plan thinking that it was insane. He had suspected Jace of having helped him out in that field but most on the crew just wanted to do their part in the downfall of the Sith empire. If it meant for the Grand Sire to die in order for the kingdom to come crashing down then so be it.

What was priority now was the planning of the mission. As soon as the craters were sealed from the top to prevent detection the crews began working on the fuel supply. The only ship to leave on frequent trips was the _Quatra_, since it had been fitted with a proper cloaking device, similar to that of the _Ebon Hawk_. Jace had been cleared to take the ship out for a trip to the Psytosis Nebula in an effort to study it provided he did not alert the enemy to his presence. The kid seemed like just as much if not more of a scientist than an actual Jedi. Yuthura and HK-47 joined the hunting parties sent out to clear the caves of bats and mynoks. Meanwhile Trek, Revan, and the other commanders gathered in the lower levels.

Revan came in last, as he had trouble finding the area but they did not start the meeting without him. As soon as he entered, Trek spoke. "I believe only Commander Saww and I have had the...unique pleasure of meeting Mr. Revan."

"Oh please," rejected Revan. "It's just Revan...or Commander Revan if that suits protocol."

"I've given him provisional officer status in our committee," said Trek to the others in light of the looks the others were giving each other. Revan could tell that most of these men did not like him and also wondered how much they actually knew about him from whatever Trek had told them.

"Can I assume you all have read the briefings?"

"I didn't get it," Revan replied quickly. "I assume they deal with reconnaissance?"

"Yes," said Trek. "Let the Sith waste their fuel and ore trying to find us elsewhere, they won't be looking here."

"Just laying low doesn't get us anywhere," said Commander Rainer. "The opportunity is six months away and we have a lot of planning to do but if the Sith even get as much as a whiff of our presence, that plan goes out the airlock."

"They won't," said Trek. "Mengskin does not have anything remotely close to Shikara's defense grid; I'm not worried about that. But this is where we have to be because six months from now it's where he's going to be. The graduating class of the academy will be receiving the Grand Sire the day they get their diplomas. Zazz makes his occasional trips across the empire but he has not once missed this appearance at the academy each year. He's been much more disciplined about this than previous Sires."

"Why?" Revan asked.

"Because Zazz himself is a graduate of the academy," replied Archie. "Valedictorian of his class and his groundbreaking performances are what got the attention of his master. This matters to him."

"Very good Saww," said Archie as a complimentary way of telling him to shut up. "I was head of security for him for a couple years when he made these trips," said Trek. "I know the layout of the castle he stays at, I know the procedures and I know that if this plan is going to work, we're going to have to take him out when he's arrived."

"Discreet assassinations don't sound very practical," said Jono. "This is a Sith academy we're talking about."

"We're not going to kill the Sire while he's making the speech," said Trek. "He arrives two days in advance and the castle he stays in is several hundred kilometers away so it takes several hours to get from A to B. We're going to kill him _before_ he makes it, before as in the night he arrives – storm the castle, cut our way through, force Zazz into a corner and then Revan and I will take him out while the rest of our forces hold out against their reinforcements."

"Can't we just ambush the caravan instead?" asked Commander Temple.

"Too many escape routes," said Trek. "And I'm not even counting Zazz's warp ability. Believe it or not it's actually _more_ practical to just hit him where he lives. His pride and amusement must be triggered in order to get him to actually stay. Ambushing the caravan is cowardly and he will merely repay the insult by retreating like a coward."

"As romantic as this all sounds," Rainer interjected. "The castle is a castle – it's got the look of an old castle but the defenses of a modern castle. If you think you think you'll be able to smash the front gates open towards him..."

"I don't," said Trek. "We're going to drop in behind the walls from the air and be as discreet as possible until they figure out we're here."

"That's not your style Commander," Archie commented, but Trek ignored him.

"If they've got the defenses of a modern castle," Revan cut in. "They'll be able to detect any drop ships we send over the area."

"They'll be able to detect parachutes too," added Rainer.

"We'll be using neither," said Trek. "How much do you know about the atomic hawk?"

The room turned quiet, and everyone looked at each other, hoping someone would talk. Revan knew nothing about this but the mentioning of a hawk brought the dream back to his mind.

_These hawks were huge – wingspan of a manta ray and claws big like a mountain gondola. He was in one and Yuthura was in the other claw of the same bird. Trek was in another, next to him a darkly dressed battle hardened commando. Dustil was in one and Jace Myrther was there too. Lena was nowhere in sight but there were six other hawks carrying two soldiers each – all of them dressed the same as the man next to Trek. They were in wedge formation soaring over the stratosphere of the beautiful world._

"_That's it?_" Revan was now thinking, once the rewound vision had passed from his mind. "_That couldn't have just been it...not with all the man power we have. Must have been a second team._"

"Nobody?" asked Trek. "The atomic hawk is a unique species of bird only found on Mengskin. They're massive; I'm talking half the size of the ship Revan came in on. Magnificent creatures; they travel in packs of nine, they are unbelievably difficult to kill and even though they respond in kind to the Force they do not like Sith. Their minds are tranquil and easy to manipulate, but they have slowly evolved to be heavily resistant to their powers. They also have the ability to fly under the radar."

Another small memory from the dream flashed back into his head. _"Why don't the guards fire at these birds?" he thought. "It would seem like the practical thing to do in their shoes…"_ That was a thought that occurred to him during the dream; now he understood why. It was because of their stealth, their seemingly harmless nature and their ability to kill if ever angered or threatened.

"You're going to tame an entire flock of atomic hawks to get them to drop you into the castle?" Archie said, even though he already knew the answer.

"Between Revan and I…and even Myrther should we need him, we'll take care of that. We'll have bombers in orbit, the _Vendetta_, _Pincer_ and the _Spear Tip_ will have ground forces standing by. As soon as the alarms go off we will signal for a full attack and our bombers will be responsible for guarding against reinforcements from the three nearby cities."

"What kind of resistance should we expect?" asked Revan.

"Strong but it ain't Becton," said Trek. "The Grand Sire likes his space and he's more than capable of handling himself but his security team will consist of constant communication with other Sith forces nearby. The castle is smack in between a triangle of medium sized metropolitan areas. Sith presence there is strong despite how lax it is towards the residents. No chance of taking Zazz out at the school."

"Strong but lax?" Revan questioned. "Why?"

"You never seen Mengskin," said Temple. "It's rather pretty…great place for the academy, but also bragging rights…yes the Sith are a little sentimental."

"Surveillance of the areas is possible but not without extensive recon work," said Archie. "We'll need to be able to monitor the activity from here without a trace; I recommend at least five different nodes between us and them for each bug. Six degrees of separation should be good enough for us to cut them off if they try tracing it, but without interfering with the signal strength."

"Very good," said Trek. "In the meantime I also want our ground forces to be salty. While we lay low, I want them nourished, exercised, and battle hardened just as before. Do what you have to do."

"I suppose by now I can assume you're all used to the idea?" Revan asked.

"My objections still stand," said Jono. "But the decision has been made; if you're wrong, we'll all pay for it but until that time, we don't need another speech."

"Good," said Trek and Revan at the same time, looking at each other somewhat awkwardly. "You have your assignments and your duties; we have six months to prepare. We'll reconvene every five days for progress updates. Dismissed."

With the meeting adjourned, the rest of the commanders stood up and left the room, including Revan and Trek, but Revan rushed slightly to catch up to Trek. "It was tough enough convincing you," he said. "How'd you convince them?"

"They're not convinced," said Trek. "Most of them probably never will be but it doesn't matter. They voted unanimously for it because they trust _me_. Whether or not their attitude changes is irrelevant, they'll do what's expected."

"And you trust all of them?" Revan persisted which made Trek frown harder.

"With my life," he said. "If you're worried about a mole, you needn't be. Every single person on the team knows enough about the Force to know how dangerous such thoughts are and they all know what I'd do to them if they betrayed us. Maybe it's a bigger issue where you're from; it ain't here."

Revan nodded. "Good enough."

Months passed; in the perspective of the soldiers of the rebellion it was riveting – hours upon hours of training separated by heavy meals compiled with brief digestion and resting periods. Though it was nothing they were not used to, it was difficult to not have the ability to relax in front of a sunny sky during the occasional periods of R&R. Yuthura and Dustil were assigned by Revan to participate in these training exercises for the first three months; the latter three to training themselves with each other and with the Force. Cassandra was given the freedom to do what she wanted but she spent most of her time practicing every flight simulation the _Ebon Hawk_ had to offer, as well as occasionally watching Dustil with a slight glow of admiration for his discipline as a student. Yuthura had always been the more experienced one and Dustil knew it, but though he did not take to her as an apprentice, he never doubted her ability to help him. Yuthura herself had usually been much more independent in her training and her progress as a student of the Force, a trait she had often made her students embrace for their training when she was teaching at the Korriban Academy. After a few hundred tries Cassandra had successfully broken every record for the simulation, hooked to it like a video game.

Revan on the other hand was much more versatile in his doings. In all his efforts to integrate himself as a leader of the Kraxis Rebellion, he had his hand in a little bit of everything. He had helped them fix engines as well as help to fortify their armor and artillery. He also went with the recon teams to help plant bugs and separation nodes throughout the city, something his Baragwin Shadow Armor was exceptionally useful for.

The development of the strategic plan for holding out against reinforcements while the Grand Sire would be fought was also Revan's doing, his spark of genius that the board could not help but deeply admire. Revan made an effort to get to know each member by playing games of checkers and dejarik with them. With the exception of one checkers game against Archie Saww, Revan won all of them. However, in the rematch game of dejarik against Archie, Revan beat him in record timing. At one point, Trek, Revan, and another squad of soldiers took a shuttle into hyperspace to the Kraxis system for supplies. Though they were able to elude the Sith, one stranger attempted to pickpocket Trek. When Revan once again conveyed his objections to killing the man, Trek compromised and dropped him down an elevator shaft causing paralysis from the waist down. At that point, Revan could not help but to unleash the slightly sick sense of humor he always had by laughing about it over a drink with Trek later that evening just after holding another staff meeting where they drew out the subsequent plans for the window of opportunity.

Just as Trek had said in his speeches, the rebellion would have a window of opportunity but they could not waste any time organizing themselves and preparing to hit the intended targets. They would have to already be prepared so they could strike immediately while the disturbance was early in effect. Once the Grand Sire was dead, the _Saber Tooth_ and _Jackknife _would fly over the Mengskin academy that very evening and demolish it. The rest of the fleet would fly in unison straight to Tryton system, where the spaceports, blockades, and defense network hubs would all be vulnerable and reign hell upon it. Then they would take passage through the Tryton Hypergate, an artificially created hyperspace tunnel passing through the large debris field and connecting the Tryton worlds to the Voss System. After destroying the hypergate on the other end, they would meet up with the _Saber Tooth_ and _Jackknife_ and unleash an even greater hell, destroying everything from the mines and supply caches on the moon of Azarith to the Grand Sire's retreat on Charr, as well as the entire capitol city on Voss with a single nuclear warhead. From there they would travel to Shikara, still in unison and complete their work of destroying the defense grid, following it up with the complete destruction of civilization on the planet.

That in and of itself was the heart of the True Sith Empire; from that point on, everything else would be a scouring. The most difficult target would be the Becton strongholds; the biggest watchtower of the planet in the whole galaxy where the bulk of the remaining Sith military would be at. It would be a campaign of attrition but at that point, it would be evident that the tables were turned and that the Sith were doomed. A frontal assault on the planet by the Kraxis Rebels with the Grand Sire and greatest political and economical points of infrastructure still alive would be suicide which was why that planet would have to be one of the last operations that did not yet need to be planned just like the other scattered Sith space stations across their territories that would be relative easy prey.

There was also Lipus Tan, a sanctuary for dignified human veterans and families, all of them loyal to the Sith. The Kraxis Rebellion's intent was clear; to not only wipe out the entire Sith race, but to destroy those who loyally and obediently served and to ensure the survival of none. There was no defense grid around the world so destroying it would be easy enough but comparatively, this was low on the priority list.

The only potential problem with the whole plan aside from the fact that for any of this to work the Grand Sire would have to die was that they needed to know how difficult it would be to bypass and destroy all the defense grids, even with the Grand Sire dead. It was quite apparent that humans were the manpower of these operations, most of which would probably not be affected by Zazz's death.

However these doubts were more or less dispelled when Trek explained to him that overall Sith training of humans is not as substantial as the amount of which humans rely on the True Sith to help them out. They had deliberately structured it that way so that even though their human forces have their generals and leaders with even some Sith reporting to them, their performance was largely yet obliviously based upon battle meditation, a common trait amongst True Sith. The idea of it was to prevent humans from thinking too much on their own and getting any rebellious ideas themselves even if most of the humans did not realize that their performance was strengthened through the Force.

With everyone busy with their routines and duties, five months passed flew by almost unnoticed. All the intelligence they had gathered seemed to suggest that Sith hunting parties had been steadily increasing in the wake of coming up empty. The rebellion had thus been successful at remaining elusive.

The final month seemed more or less the same for most of the rebellion, but it was now the time that the hawks were migrating back from the opposite hemisphere of the academy for the warmer weather. This was a bit of a crunch for timing but Trek did not want to defy the rules of Mengskin's laws of nature so to possibly give away his location to the Sith.

When they came down to the surface dropping into the lush green forests to the atomic hawk's natural habitat, the group was Trek, Revan, and Dustil. Jace had declined the offer to go, once again making the excuse that he was still working on something big, and that he was perfecting his skills. When Trek showed signs of irritation Jace calmed him down by presenting a formula for how to use the elements from the stalactites in the caves to make larger and more effective artillery shells. Though it happened to increase the explosive efficiency for the entire rebellion by over 300% this was apparently a mere side project based on the data files he already had of the moon.

However Dustil seemed like the perfect substitute; it was not even relevant to the fact that he requested to tag along but actually he was able to calm and tame more atomic hawks than either of the other two. Though he had never taken an official lesson in beast control it appeared that he was gifted in this power almost the same way Bastila was gifted in battle meditation. A very small base of operations was set up on Mengskin merely for the purposes of taking care of the hawks as they could not be shipped to the moon. In a real training exercise of flying Dustil took Cassandra on the _Ebon Hawk_ and let her fly down to the planet and work out the kinks. She handled the ship very well, and then Dustil showed off his ability to control the hawks when he rode in the claw of one while making it do aerial tricks. This was definitely Dustil's most dangerous undertaking without Revan's supervision but the hawks needed occasional exercise as well as friendly treatment.

With merely one week before the scheduled arrival of the Grand Sire, something peculiar happened. As he was meditating in his ship with his lightsabers using the Force to dismantle, reassemble, substitute parts, and practice telekinetic combat against dummies, he was interrupted by the arrival of Commander Trek.

Revan had noticed that both he and Trek had warmed up to the other's personality and had developed a much greater respect for one another, but never had Trek paid him a personal visit to his own ship. As such, Revan had absolutely no idea of the man's intentions.

"Got a minute?" Trek asked. Revan's eyes were still closed but he telekinetically switched off his lightsabers and stowed them back to his belt. Then he stood up and opened his eyes. "I know I've asked you about this before," continued Trek. "But those weapons you use…_lightsabers_ as you call them. I understand that blasters are not usually a great choice against Sith unless they're fitted with heavy thermal firepower, but why not just use regular swords?"

"Swords dull eventually and they make a wondrous mess of things," said Revan. "Lightsabers are quick, agile, and they get the job done, usually without excessively bleeding your opponent out."

"But don't you want your opponent to bleed?" Trek asked. "It's amusing but it also makes the other enemies more frightened right?"

"You tell me if the Sith actually care about that kind of thing; last I checked they don't scare as easily as humans. And are you really going to take the time to admire a growing red puddle in the middle of a battle?"

"Point taken," said Trek. "But if the lightsaber cauterizes the wounds upon infliction, then how do you know it's done its job?"

"Most people don't recover from their head getting chopped off," said Revan. "It doesn't matter if there's blood flying everywhere or not. But that's not all the lightsaber is good for; it doesn't take much energy to cut skin, but cutting metal is something else. If you want a door opened or a droid hacked apart, the lightsaber will get it done in less than half the time."

"Huh," replied Trek. "I didn't know that. You wouldn't be able to teach me how to make one…would you?"

"It's pretty easy to do it," said Revan. "I've got plenty of spare parts at the workbench in the garage, bottom drawer. And if you look in that plasteel cylinder over there, got a couple of spare lightsabers that you could use as models. I can't give them to you for keeps though."

"That's fine, I'd rather make one."

Trek left Revan to his meditations, and about two hours later, Revan went to garage to see that he was still there at the workbench. Revan did not want to ask if Trek needed any help for Trek would probably be too proud to accept. Yet the commander did not seem to be having much trouble. He could tell that the two lightsabers Trek borrowed were disassembled and put back together multiple times, perhaps as practice.

"I think I've got it," said Trek. "But…I'm not sure if I did it right, because this is a little different."

"Let's see…"

Trek turned around to show Revan the hilt, which already looked quite different than a normal one. The length was about equivalent to the size of a regular single bladed lightsaber, but the weaponized end had two ends sticking out of it. Revan's eyes narrowed on that part, trying to figure out what Trek had actually done, but it became clear as soon as Trek pushed the button. From the _snap-hiss_, out came two separate bright white and orange blades. One blade shot out in a straight line just like usual, but the other shot out forty-five degrees from the other. The second blade was dagger-sized; the other was the usual length of a long blade. It was a forked weapon – the very first cross-guard lightsaber ever created, and that caused Revan's jaw to drop.

"I put a second emitter on here…and I combined the red and yellow crystal to make an orange one…favorite color." Trek didn't really know how to explain what he had done; he just knew it was different.

"That is probably the most uniquely crafted weapon I have ever seen…I didn't even know lightsaber parts could be arranged like that." This was about as close as Revan could ever get to stooping to the immature teenage street punk surfer lingo that he was quite tempted to joke about but didn't because he didn't know if Trek would get it.

"I take it I did okay then…"

"That depends," replied Revan. "Is it stable?"

"Should be…though I'd like to find out. Care for a sparring match in the arena?"

"Will there be an audience?"

"Yes…"

"You're on," replied Revan with a smile.

Final reconnaissance reports had come in just the day before the Grand Sire was scheduled to show up. The atomic hawks were rested and well fed, each of them performing beyond expectations. In the times that Zazz wasn't there the castle was still guarded, but it was easy to infiltrate it as maintenance crews as long as they actually did sweep the floors and clean the toilets along with the assignments of planting the bugs in a few of the cracks in the walls. But with one day to go the security was now air tight comparatively and ground scouts knew that couldn't get anywhere near it, but they could still get a reading on all the men from the skies which was all they needed now. Strangely enough there was one group of rebel spies that ended up doing those usual janitorial and maintenance work during that day because the Sith had just gotten used to seeing some of their faces, merely for the purposes of not arousing suspicion.

The group to proceed with the initial stealth infiltration was to be small, platoon sized so that each hawk could carry two people. It was to be Revan, Trek, Yuthura, Dustil, and Jace had also volunteered to be there as well. The rest of the men were handpicked by Trek weeks ago as the most elite combat fighters in the whole rebellion. He even made some of the men compete for the spot and once the team was picked, he had them train with each other and form the loyalty bonds to each other as most of the men did not know the others in the crew.

The best part of the plan in Revan's opinion was that they were even anticipating the alarms to go off and for the guards to become battle alert. Not only would that make it more fun, but it would also signal Cassandra to fly the _Ebon Hawk_ over the castle and drop HK-47 and another strike team down, along with several other drop ships. The main gate would stay closed so to keep the castle a defensive fortress in the case any Sith ground reinforcements bypassed the rest of the rebellion's efforts and made it. Commander Saww was actually ordered by Trek to be on the initial strike team, leaving Commander Kale of the _Sonic Boom_ in charge of the air defenses.

There was but one more step. Trek knew that the Grand Sire never traveled by air on his trip to Mengskin. For the sake of saving on resources, Zazz would always warp himself there, an act that in and of itself would slightly weaken his powers, making the effort to destroy him all the more doable, provided they timed it correctly.

That very afternoon, Revan joined Trek in a stealth trip to the surface. They landed several kilometers away from the southern city and had to hike for about three hours to a watchtower on the outskirts of that city. Revan very much enjoyed the beauty of Mengskin, especially from a grassroots perspective, and he also was happy that Trek was no slow hiker. Trek took on the responsibility to get to the tower and then use binoculars to eye Rixxon Zazz and confirm his arrival, and Revan came along at his request.

They were surprised to find the watch tower empty, but after detecting no traps or hostile presence nearby, they climbed to the top and Trek took out the binoculars and began scoping out the castle.

"Security's definitely hyped up more, just as I expected," said Trek while looking through. Revan could see the castle with the naked eye off in the distance but he now felt as if his brain was being picked once again from the familiarization. Trek did not notice so he kept talking. "The castle is rather quiet and boring right now…he might not be here yet."

Revan was no longer listening. He was now flashing back upon the dream once again.

_He was standing atop a tall tower on the outskirts of a beautiful city. The buildings were tall but none scraped the sky. The atmosphere was clean; a kind of tropical environment around what looked like a very old version of urban sprawl. The city, spanning a dozen kilometers across rested on a large low altitude mesa. Far away was an active cinder cone volcano. The land was pure, and a glorious sight to witness._

"I think I've finally got a sighting," said Trek.

Revan looked around to see that he was standing and seeing exactly what the dream had said. The castle, the buildings of the city, the volcano, the natural beauty, everything was right where it was supposed to be. Trek looked exactly as he had looked in the dream. The first part of the vision had come true.

"_Huh,_" thought Revan, still looking around to confirm everything in its place. "_The first part of the dream was likely inevitable…all we had to do was survive. Hopefully we've done everything else right to ensure the victory I have seen happens as well. Six months of planning…I have seen these things before…_"

"Did you hear me?" persisted Trek. When Revan still made no response, Trek persisted even further. "Hello…Mengskin to Revan, Mengskin to Revan. _Hey!_"

Revan turned back around to look at Trek. "What?"

"What's the matter with you?"

"Oh…nothing, I'm fine," said Revan. He felt like a bit of a failure, figuring that Trek could easily see through his mildly turbulent mind, but in the dream, Trek had said those exact same words.

"_I made that exact same response in the dream…_" he thought. "_Was there anything better to say?_" But Revan shook the thought off, knowing that Trek had something to say.

"I said, I think I've got a sighting," said Trek. "Take a look; twenty degrees north, sixty four degrees west. I think that's him." He handed Revan the binoculars.

Revan had seen the castle before, by air as well as by interior schematic. Through the binoculars he was not looking at anything he had not seen before, but he zoomed in on the central tower and matched the coordinates, which led him to the top floor window.

The being he looked at was large. He was sitting on the throne talking to someone else. He had a longer neck than usual, with tiny sharp horns sticking out on the sides, menacing golden pupils in his eyes, and his face slightly a darker color than crimson but not brownish either.

"_Same person I saw in the dream…Lena confirmed it, that must be him,_" he thought. "_I think he's right…but that's what I told him in the dream. No sense beating around the bush. Roll with it…_"

"Huh," he finally said. "I think you're right."

"I knew I would be," said Trek. "That inglorious bastard Grand Sire in the flesh."

"We better head back," said Revan. "Unless you just want to try sniping him right here."

"That won't be possible," said Trek, and his grin turned sheepish. "I didn't bring my sniper rifle. Although…at some point, I'm going to have to take that HK droid of yours out on a loyalist murdering rampage."

"If the droid had a mouth, it would probably get stuck from smiling so much…let's go."

"Kale, do you read me?"

"Aye aye, Commander," came Kale's voice.

"The guest of honor has arrived."

"Everything up here is taken care of, sir," replied Kale. "Strike team one will rendezvous with you at the hawk's nest. Good hunting."

* * *

_That night…_

The sun had set two hours ago and everything was in position. Cassandra had the _Ebon Hawk_ in the air, holding HK-47 and the strike team led by Sergeant Rawn Blaik. The rest of the rebellion was invisible, but standing by. The hawks had been pulled out of their cages, and stood at the ready, their peaceful minds upon the whim of those with the Force. Everyone on the ground and in the air had been fitted with earpieces to stay with real time, and Trek had one final speech to make.

"My fellow rebels…this is Commander Trek. We are about to embark upon the great undertaking that will shape the future of the entire race of humanity for which we have striven these many months. Though the eyes of the galaxy are not yet upon us, they soon will be once we snatch the crown of victory from Rixxon Zazz's cold dead hands.

"I wanted to let all of you know how much of an honor it was for me to serve with you. These past six months have done nothing but fly by. We have planned, we have prepared, and we have worked long and hard for this to work…and I have every bit of faith in the dark side of the Force, the inner fire deep inside that allows you all to give one hundred and ten percent…that the beginning of the Sith Empire's end is tonight. When they write about us they will focus only on the big picture, how we as a small heroic band of rebels overcame impossible odds to destroy the oppression upon the human race. Our preparations for this operation probably won't be more than a chapter in any book written about this but it has meant everything to me and it has continuously reassured my belief that humanity is ready to take control in the name of peace and justice.

"Harden your hearts and most importantly, stay sharp. We've got a Grand Sire to kill. Over and out."

Trek cut communication and mounted the claw of his hawk with Archie on the other claw.

"Mount up!" yelled Revan. He and Yuthura took one hawk; Dustil and Jace took another and the rest of the team divvied them up evenly. "On my go!" With an effort to touch the atomic hawk's mind with the Force, Revan jumped it into the air. Trek followed, and the rest of the hawks took off to join the flock. With Revan and Yuthura at the point, they flew in circles until they reached wedge formation, and then steered towards the castle, which was about an hour away by flight. They reached a steadily high altitude and relaxed their minds, allowing the hawks to do what they did best.

"_Alright Mr. Zazz,_" thought Revan. "_I'm coming for you…_"

* * *

_We hope you have thoroughly enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight"._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	39. Chapter 38: To Kill a King

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark**

**

* * *

Chapter 38**

**To Kill A King

* * *

**

"_Revan felt himself thrust into another vision; this time in a large room, and by the looks of it, very familiar. He stood at the very center, with Trek right beside him. In front of him was the Grand Sire sitting on the throne with a cleanly cut hole straight through his neck. It had been done by a lightsaber no doubt. Far to left and sitting at a computer terminal was Jace Myrther. As Revan looked around, Dustil was not there, and neither was Lena. Yuthura was barking orders to a whole squad of Kraxis Rebel commandos. Scattered across the floor were several dead individuals, human as well as True Sith._"

Revan's eyes gently opened to find himself in a position unchanged for the past half hour. He was high up in the air, safe in the grip of an atomic hawk. Yuthura gazed the scenery in the other claw, a spectacular sight of natural beauty, even in the dark and partly cloudy night. Flying in wedge formation were the eight other hawks, each one carrying a pair of soldiers. Dustil and Jace were chatting to themselves, but Revan had no idea what about. Trek's expression was cold and seemingly fearless. Archie Saww's face was concealed behind the black mask, but Revan could tell the man was a solid and loyal soldier, probably the most loyal soldier Trek had in the entire rebellion. The wedge formation had not changed, but with the travel time having passed so quickly, Revan knew that the hour of infiltration was drawing near.

"_No more distractions…_" he thought to himself. "_Tread softly, keep the big stick, and we'll do fine. Too late to worry about whether the vision is true or not…_"

This was it; the apex of difficulty in the operation. Never did stage one of a grand plan seem so frightening; but from the fright came the exhilaration and euphoria, which was exactly the kind of fuel that Revan needed.

The birds began to descend, Revan felt his stomach lurch slightly from the sudden drop in altitude, but once the clouds were above him again, he could see the castle below. The hawks were headed straight for it, most likely to make a pass over it and drop them on the walls.

"_Remember…_" Trek said to everyone through the Force. "_Sith can sense you out and Zazz is no fool._"

"_Trust in your training_," Revan added, and then honed his focus into only one. "_And Trek…don't turn that lightsaber on until the alarms go off…_" Trek merely nodded at him. From his new look, Dustil and Jace stopped talking and put their game faces on. It was still amusing to notice that Jace was dressed in a light colored padawan robe.

As the hawks flew over the top of the castle, the formation was dispersed, each bird veering off in a different direction to drop their pairs inside the walls at the discovered blind spots of the towers. Most of them were dropped off before Revan was, but he and Yuthura landed on the top of the main wall on the north side of the castle. Yuthura threw her rope down and dropped from the wall, with Revan following right behind.

Revan's stealth field generator was now on, but Yuthura knew exactly where he was in proximity to her. Yuthura stayed low, bushwhacking her way through the grassy fields as quietly as possible with Revan following, being careful to avoid the stone paths and the guards that patrolled them.

Meanwhile, Trek took cover in front of the low stone wall on the side of one of the paths. Archie Saww was inside one of the haystacks with his head and arm poking out, holding a small mirror in it. Trek was watching the mirror, waiting for the human guard to come into plain view. When the patrolman was walking by Trek stood up and stabbed him in the heart with a knife and brought him into the grass, keeping his mouth covered. He dragged the guard into the haystack and then pulled the knife out, leaving him there. Looking to his right, he noticed another guard facing a different direction, but then saw one of his commandos sneak up behind him, smash the guard down onto his knee and then snap his neck, quick and quiet.

The guards on the corners of the walls were now dead, and the other commandos had made their way down. One pair stealthily dropped down onto another guard and stuck a knife into the back of his throat.

Yuthura slowed down, allowing Revan to take point. They inched their way closer to the main tower, but as soon as the entrance was in sight, Revan put his fist up as an order to halt and crouch. Another pair, which Revan identified as Dustil and Jace came up adjacent to their position. When Yuthura motioned to get down and start crawling, they did so.

A screeching noise out of nowhere began hammering away at Revan's eardrum. Alarms were going off everywhere, the sound echoing all over the castle. Guards were now on full alert, scrambling to defensive positions on a search and scour objective. One guard was running from one stone path to another, right across the path Dustil and Jace was on. As he stepped over Dustil, Jace intercepted his motion and swept him to the ground. With one punch to the face, the guard was out cold. He then took off his robe and draped it over the unconscious guard, revealing his concealed clothing as dark brown colored.

"_Must be Jace's idea of a joke…_" Revan thought as he came out of stealth mode. But Dustil quietly whistled Revan to follow and Revan nodded, joining his path.

"Trek to _Ebon Hawk_," he said through his communicator. "We're compromised. Deploy team two."

"You got it," said Cassandra. In less than a minute, the _Ebon Hawk_, accompanied by a small group of shuttles soared over, deploying paratroopers, including HK-47. Though the anti-aircraft guns began targeting them, Trek and Revan were quick to use the Force to turn their aim to barraging the walls of the central tower, blowing open new entrances to counter the freshly sealed doors.

"Let's move!" yelled Trek. "Zazz won't wait forever!"

On the outskirts of the tower, hostiles poured from every barn house in the area and had Trek's reinforcements fighting as they were landing. A few parachutes had holes burned through them, causing the soldiers to fall to their deaths, and a few soldiers who had landed in the wrong area were shot dead before they could get their parachute off, their corpses dragging along the grassy knoll from the light breeze.

But HK-47 was already on the ground and the droid hustled with the intention of catching up to Revan. Despite several laser blasts flying in its direction, the droid blasted out peripherally and scored lethal hits on six different men while on the run.

Trek rounded up a larger team of his own and was already scaling up the tower on the outside by grappling hooks and rock climbing gear while hostile fire was raining down upon them. Three squads took to the roofs of the tallest of barn houses so to counter and provide cover fire.

Trek had planned to do the climbing, while Revan would cleanse the lower levels. The interior of the central tower was designed for a long way to the top. Each staircase went only one level up and the new level had to be crossed to the opposite. It almost seemed like it was going to be a race to the throne.

"Last one to the throne is a former Sith…" Revan joked through the comm. but Trek made no response but to speed up his climbing.

At the top of the first staircase to the second level was a newly sealed metal gate. "I can't hack it," said Jace. "They've disabled the controls."

"Allow me," said Revan. With a powerful burst of energy straight from the gut, Revan let out a Force push that hit the door and began pushing it backwards. Yuthura attempted use her power to help him out, but she wasn't even sure if she was doing anything. As the entire gate shifted further and further back Revan could feel the resistance against it getting stronger. When he knew for sure that there was now a physical effort to stop it from moving he channeled the push to the very top, causing the metal gate to fall down hard, crushing three humans and a True Sith.

With another grip of the Force, Revan pulled two humans towards him, and as Dustil and Yuthura readied their weapons, Revan beat them to it by igniting _Heart of the Guardian_ and _Mantle of the Force_ and cutting them straight in half. "Go!" he yelled and the several men behind him rushed forward into full confrontation with the remaining guards on the floor. HK-47, with its red eyes of death brightly gleaming, pumped five shots into a wall and obliterated a guard taking cover behind it.

Yuthura jumped through a medium sized window in the kitchen, where a Sith began attacking her with a large butcher knife. With her weapon the same size, their blades clashed and she willingly gave in, wrapping her gauntlet around the Sith's knife and swiping off his arm with her shoto. The Sith began to roar in pain, but Yuthura cut it short by jumping up to grab his head and then slamming it down on a burning stove, keeping it there until the Sith's face was cooked to perfection.

"Overkill in the slightest?"

"The first few are…always the most fun," panted Yuthura as she leapt back through the window to join him.

"You both talk way too much," said Jace. As Yuthura and Dustil turned around to face the kitchen again, there was another Sith with a challenger's smile. Yuthura leapt back through the window again to fight it, but the Sith lifted the stove off the ground and hurled it at her. She threw herself to the side, just barely able to dodge it, and it went through the wall, making the window much larger. Dustil reignited his yellow lightsaber and lunged, but his blow was intercepted by the Sith grabbing onto the blade of Dustil's lightsaber with his bare hands. Dustil pressed harder, knowing that he was causing the Sith some pain, but Jace in a throwing motion, landed his silver lightsaber into his chest, and Yuthura kicked the lightsaber by the hilt, forcing it straight through the Sith's body and into the wall. The Sith let go and cringed while Dustil spun around with two swipes, one to the chest and the other raking across the face. The Sith plopped to the floor dead.

Revan was almost tempted to yawn, deflecting the incoming blaster fire, but as soon as one of the guards ran out of ammo, Revan Force lifted him out of cover where HK-47 gave him two to the chest and another to the head. They did the same to the last guard to clear the level.

"C'mon, Trek's probably halfway up the tower by now."

HK-47 took point up the stairs with Revan behind him. They were followed by Dustil, Jace, Yuthura, and three other soldiers. On the third level, the door was not sealed, but automated turret fire suppressed their position. HK-47 analyzed their location within a split second of sticking its head out of cover, and then hit them both with an ion blast and disabled them.

For some reason, the third level was devoid of any hostiles. "Too easy," said Yuthura.

"Half of everything is luck," said one soldier.

"And the other half?" Dustil asked.

"_Silence!_" ordered Revan. "This is an ambush waiting to happen and we still have two more floors before the throne room. No Sith presence on this level…move slowly nonetheless."

"Observation: Master, I have scanned the area. The Sith meatbags have no mines or tripwires on this level. I suggest we make haste."

One of Trek's soldiers took point with Yuthura while the others checked the rooms. As Yuthura and the soldier inched forward, the floor in front of them sprang open as a trap, a split second too early. Yuthura stuck her hand out, stopping the soldier from moving forward. "I think we found the trap," she said.

Revan nodded and gently Force pushed HK-47 and the other three soldiers over the large opening that was too big for an ordinary jump. Jace jumped first followed by Yuthura. Dustil hopped to the side and then hopped between the walls across the floor. "Showoff…" one of the soldiers muttered.

But as soon as Revan made his own jump the floor they were standing on turned into the real trap. It sprang open and dropped them down to the first level, which also opened up into another drop. From the second drop came a thud on the hard cement ground of the pitch dark basement in the tower. Everyone had braced their fall by slapping the ground hard to prevent their neck from braking when they landed on their back. As Revan got to his feet he heard some painful groans coming from the soldiers. Only Dustil and HK-47 had successfully landed on their feet. Yuthura ran over to see how the troopers were doing and as she got them to their feet, the room lit up like a power generator.

"Your progress has been quite impressive," came a thundering Sith voice over the intercom. "But your journey to reach the master ends here."

More lights came on around them to see that they were surrounded in the large open basement floor by nine True Sith.

Revan had but one thought at the moment. "_Damn it!_"

* * *

"Kale!" yelled Trek through his intercom while holding onto the brick wall high up on the tower. "What's the status on Sith reinforcements?"

"Still mobilizing," replied Kale. "No sign of dramatic movement yet…I'll keep you posted."

Trek launched himself high onto another brick, just above the window to the fourth floor. He had not yet activated his lightsaber and now seemed like a perfect opportunity. The men on the forth level seemed less concerned about what was going on outside as much as bracing for the attack on the inside. Trek knocked his lightsaber against the window to alert the guard standing there and then ignited the blades, the main one going straight through the window and then through his skull, the other one cutting another part of the window. Trek began deflecting blasts aimed at him, but he was also able to Force grab another guard, pulling him straight out the window to his death.

The guards at the top of the tower were mostly still alive but pinned down by Trek's men on the barn houses and outer walls. Any guard that poked his head out would be greeted by a sniper shot.

"Ignore these fools!" Trek yelled down to Archie and the other men who were still almost a full level below him and struggling to make their way up. "Revan will take care of them."

* * *

The nine True Sith warriors had the small group surrounded, inching their way closer and closer.

"Orders?" said Yuthura quietly.

"Hold a sec…let them get nearer," Revan whispered to them, even though he figured the Sith had heard him. They stood back to back to back, HK-47 had his gun aimed right between the eyes of another True Sith. "HK…when I give the word, start firing, but _don't_ aim for the head…" But the droid had understood exactly what Revan meant by saying that. Revan wanted the Sith the droid was aiming at to brace somewhere else.

Ten seconds later, Revan made the call. "_Now!_" HK-47 unleashed a fury of rapid fire thermal blasts right at his targeted Sith and hit him right between the eyes. Dustil, Yuthura, and Jace switched on their lightsabers at the same time, in one unison _snap-hiss_ but Revan launched himself at another Sith without turning on his lightsabers. Catching the Sith off guard Revan slammed his elbows and his knees hard on the Sith's head, crushing it from top to bottom in a bone crunching maneuver. The two Sith next to him immediately turned their attention to him while HK-47 and the other two soldiers began firing at another.

Jace and Dustil teamed up against another Sith and brought it down, stabbing it multiple times in the chest. Before they got up, they saw Yuthura fly over them and hit the wall hard. When a sickly storm of lightning came her way, Jace intercepted it with his lightsaber and kept it from hitting Yuthura while Dustil crept up behind the Sith and cut his head off.

Revan darted from wall to ground to wall, avoiding the melee swings of one and the shocking stomps of another. With the others fending off the last few, Revan saw both of the Sith he was fighting channel their lightning straight for him. With the Force, Revan summoned the frail and barely alive body of the other Sith whose face he crushed into his way, and the lightning destroyed him once and for all. With the split second pause in lightning from both of the attacking Sith, Revan threw both of them in the air with the Force until they hit the ceiling. Then he brought them back down and then back up and then back down, repeating that pattern until there was a clear hole in the ceiling for which they could get up through.

"Destroy them all!" yelled the voice in the room again, as the last of the Sith was being zapped by three different laser blasts all at the same time. Three small openings appeared in the wall and a massive flurry of turret fire emerged. Revan and the others took to cover, except for HK-47, which was taking the hits very hard.

"HK!" yelled Revan, but the droid fired ion blasts again and disabled two of the turrets. Jace, who was right next to one of them stuck his hand and pulled out three of the wires apart, causing the turret to explode inside the wall. Revan began moving towards HK-47, as it looked like the room was clear again, but the assassin droid turned to Revan, eyes still glowing in the color of the red son. The droid aimed its blaster in Revan's direction and began firing. Revan ducked, but realized that he didn't even have to. There was a whole squad of humans behind him and now to the side of him that were coming his way, that HK-47 was taking down.

Revan back-flipped and landed down hard on the head of one man. Then he grabbed the heads of the two men beside him and slammed them together hard, following up with a hard face crush with his knee. Dustil and Yuthura were tripping and splicing several different men at the same time, but the other attackers with blasters were now aiming down HK-47. Considering that there were ten of them at the same time, HK-47 was getting pummeled with blaster fire, and could not recover in time.

"_HK, no!_" Revan yelled again, but it was too late. While keeping all the blasters distracted, the hunter killer droid had taken too many hits and began to fall to the floor. Dustil immediately withdrew from the melee and began striking the ranged men down. Revan, in a fit of rage brought several high bricks from the walls down on the men with the Force and severed the head of another with both of his lightsabers.

The battle was not yet over, for there was still another squad of armed guards that had taken defensive positions and were now beginning to fire at them again. The sounds of war continued to echo the basement, but the threat level seemed to slightly diminish, for two of the guards suddenly began firing at each other, both of them putting at least four rounds of lasers into their chests and killing each other. Revan furrowed his brow, only to see another guard begin shooting the other guards.

"_Civil war? What the hell?_" he thought, but the guards were helpless to this one seemingly renegade soldier. He emptied his rifle into the heads of the rest of the humans in his corner and with one other guard charging at him, the man bashed him to the ground with the butt of his rifle. The lone guard stood still for a while, with everyone but the disabled HK-47 staring at him. The guard then drew his pistol and pointed it to his own head.

"I…" the guard stammered. "This doesn't seem like a good idea…" Revan turned his head to notice Jace menacingly staring down the guard. Jace fired another telepathic wave of the Force to the guard's mind, and the guard pulled the trigger of suicide.

"Okay, that was cool," said Dustil.

"HK…" said Revan as he ran to the droid. The damage was very bad. HK-47 had burns and blast holes all over the torso and on his metallic limbs. His vocabulator had been hit as well as his control cluster, leaving the machine completely useless. Fortunately, the memory core was still alive. But they could linger no longer. "_Damn it!_" Revan yelled again. Rixxon Zazz was going to pay for this before he died.

"Incompetence!" screamed the hostile Sith voice through the intercom again. The ceiling openings became wider as one final group of True Sith warriors smashed their way down into the room, including the squad leader, another Sith captain.

"_Typical…boss man comes to fight after his minions get massacred. What is this, a comic book?_" Revan thought, but at the same time, he was rather happy because that captain was pissing him off. He knew this would not be easy, as they were fighting their way up to the Grand Sire and he had to save some energy for that big fight, but this was getting ridiculous.

But behind Revan's back was a human on the ground, just regaining consciousness and slowly pulling his pistol out from his belt. He aimed it for Revan, but Dustil saw it coming.

"_Look out Revan!_" Dustil yelled as he threw himself in front just as the shot was fired. The laser emitted from the gun pierced Dustil's chest on the right side, away from the heart.

"_Dustil!_" Revan yelled, but it was too late to stop the shot.

As Dustil fell to the floor a burst of sickly purple lightning hit him from two different Sith. The boy screamed and squirmed on the ground, wreathed in pain. Jace kicked the gun away from the guard and then stomped on his face with his boot. The Sith captain stood straight with his arms crossed, laughing maniacally at Dustil's agony as he continued to take the electrical barrage. Revan stuck _Mantle of the Force_ in the way of one of the lightning paths and then hurled _Heart of the Guardian_ at one of the Sith's heads. The lightsaber scraped the Sith's neck enough to stop the lightning, at which Revan dashed forward and cut the Sith to pieces. Dustil was still alive, saved by Revan and Yuthura, but Yuthura was having trouble deflecting the lightning with her shoto and keeping it redirected at the Sith attacker. Revan turned on the stealth field generator again and three seconds later, the other Sith felt himself cut in half vertically from bottom up by Revan's lightsaber.

"Get Dustil out of here!" Revan yelled as he severed more bricks from the walls and threw them at the captain. Yuthura obliged and yelled at the remaining two soldiers in the squad to follow her. She carried Dustil on her shoulders and escaped the room from the top, signaling Cassandra for a pickup on the northern wall.

This was not going well anymore and Revan knew it. First HK-47 and now Dustil. This must have been the reason why he wasn't there in the dream, but Revan cared not for that anymore. The adrenaline rush was kicking the energy in his body to an all new maximum. The Grand Sire must have knew they were coming; the castle never had this much security, and even the Sith could not have organized that quickly in alarm and sabotage. Perhaps the surveillance teams were inaccurate. But how could they be? After all, Revan was with them. Then again…he could never actually explore every single nook and cranny of the castle, with all the Sith roving around even when Zazz was _not_ there.

Another guard regaining consciousness came at Revan from behind, but Revan hit him and threw him over his shoulder to the ground, snapping his arm. The crunch and the thud combined into one sound were almost nice to hear. It was like the tempered anger Revan had always felt in his gut, the kind of controlled anger that made him the greatest warrior in the galaxy.

Trek needed his help and Revan knew it, but Trek was the least of his concerns. The man could handle himself, and both had proved themselves capable of saving the other's lives. There was still an unbelievably powerful surge of energy coming from the throne room, but Trek was not there yet. Zazz was still there as if he was waiting for them.

"_This isn't over yet…_" Revan thought.

"Any time you're ready," snarled Jace, noticing that Revan was locked in a staring contest with the Sith captain, still standing right where he was, waiting for Revan to attack.

"C'mon Revan," said the captain, while growing a smile and cracking his neck. "Make _my_ day."

* * *

Trek was on the roof of the tower with Archie and a dozen commandos on his side holding out against waves of Sith, most of which had come from the fourth floor as well as those already on the roof. His support teams on the barn houses had been knocked out by Sith reinforcements; some of which were now on the premises while others were still on their way. Commander Kale had warned him of their movement, and he had organized several ambush points along the path between the towns and the castle, but they were taking heavy losses and all they seemed to be doing was stalling.

Kale had also detected groups of Sith traveling off the path through the trees and crouching in the meadows. Those Sith were obliterated when Kale ordered air support, and after several minutes of bombardment, it looked like the rebellion could continue to hold out.

But this did not make Trek's life much easier, for he too was fending off waves of attacking Sith, except without an annoying voice blaring over an intercom.

As they looked overhead, the _Ebon Hawk_ flew by, dropping another platoon of paratroops onto the roof of the tower while Trek and Archie provided cover fire. Then the _Ebon Hawk_ set down on the northern wall, meeting Yuthura and Dustil there. When the ramp was open, Yuthura and Cassandra hauled Dustil to the medical bay, and Cassandra took off as soon as Yuthura was back out.

"Yuthura, what's your status?"

"Dustil Onasi's been hit…" said Yuthura back to Trek through the comm. "He's in pretty bad shape. So is HK-47."

"And Revan?"

"We got held up, but he and Myrther are fine. Looks like you could use some help."

"Saww is throwing a rope down," said Trek. "Get up here."

"On my way…"

* * *

_In the throne room of the castle…_

"Reinforcements should be here by now!" yelled the head of security, Commander Rahm. "The master is getting impatient."

"What's he worried about?" asked one of the guards in the room. "It's not like he can't set them on fire with a snap of his fingers…"

"What did you just say to me?" said Rahm to the human guard. The Sith grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him into the air. "When you took this job, your orders were to treat the Grand Sire as if he were vulnerable. His abilities are irrelevant. Forget this lesson again and _I'll_ light you on fire with a snap of my fingers!" The Sith lowered the guard to the floor and turned around.

"Sir, there is a good chance either Revan or Trek will get to this room before reinforcements show up. Our preparations still may have misjudged Revan's capabilities. If they get here, we can no longer guarantee your safety." The human lieutenant said with an air of fear.

"Your failures will be dealt with another time," said the head of security sitting on the throne. "The master cares not for these puny insects swarming through his castle. The bulk of the rebellion ground forces are hiding somewhere in the forests outside. He wants them found and crushed…by _any_ means necessary!"

"Yes Commander," said the human with a bow. But as he walked away, there was a knock on the large metal gate right outside.

Before the Sith forces in the room could promptly answer, a voice was heard behind it. "Special delivery for a Mr. Rixxon Zazz!"

The next second, the gates exploded from a demolition charge and knocked several human guards backwards. Jace stood off to the side in the hallway, and Revan stood in the middle, his right hand wrung around the neck of the Sith captain he had just subdued. Revan hurled the captain straight at the Grand Sire, but the cunning Sith ducked just enough for the captain to hit and bounce off the sharp top of the seat, killing him. The Grand Sire did not move further from his chair, but turned his expression to a sickly smile showing off his disgusting yellow teeth.

There were only three humans left in the room and two other True Sith including the head of security. The blast from the door had taken care of most of them. Jace snuck over to the security system and began working on disabling the interior security of the castle and establishing a connection with the fleet.

One frantic and desperate guard charged at Revan, but Revan caught his attempted blow by the arm, rotated him to the side, and punched him in the ribs so hard, the guard flew straight out the window and out of the tower.

"Shield the master!" yelled Rahm. "Revan is mine!"

As the other two humans rushed back to the throne to join the other True Sith, another explosion shook the castle, this time coming from the ceiling. The bricks and blocks from the ceiling came down onto both the humans before they could get out of the way and in came Amicus Trek, Archie Saww, Yuthura Ban, and eleven other rebel soldiers.

"Man, did we need some air in here," mused Trek. "Oh…I'm sorry, did I wreck your precious little castle tower?"

"What the hell took you so long?" asked Revan, dodging blows from Commander Rahm, who was fiercely swinging two swords out at him.

"Sad to say a lower kill count and higher body count," countered Archie, who stood there wondering if Revan needed any help when Yuthura was already rushing to Revan's aid.

"Saww, set up a perimeter in this room with these men. Zazzy here can stay as comfortable as he desires on his little rocking chair. He's not escaping us." Archie nodded and began redirecting the men around the room.

"_What clown head of security is this!_" Revan was almost laughing in his thoughts, dodging Rahm's blows with ease. He hadn't even activated his lightsabers yet. Preserving energy was all that mattered, and for Revan, that meant the Soresu stance, to wait for the enemy to crash into a wall. Revan bobbed and weaved for a few minutes, causing the True Sith head of security an immense amount of frustration. Yuthura had her shoto activated, but she had no idea when Revan was planning on making his move so she stayed out of contact but relatively close to the fight.

When Revan almost got backed into a corner, Rahm rushed at him with the intent of grabbing him, but Revan jumped high over his head, kicking him the face, a light kick that pissed the Sith off even more.

"_This is good,_" thought Revan. "_Energies recharging…less adrenaline, heart racing at a slower pace…this joker couldn't even take Malak._"

Now even Trek was getting annoyed. "Oh for crying out loud…" he vented. He activated his lightsaber again and hurled it backwards. The large blade pierced the front-most leg of Commander Rahm's front-most leg while the forked short blade pierced the other leg on the thigh level. The head of security was now roaring and slobbering in pain, both legs wobbling unstably, and Revan merely walked away, allowing Yuthura to jump up and cut his throat. Commander Rahm spun to the ground, and Revan pulled out Trek's lightsaber and tossed it back to him.

"Jace," said Revan. "What's the status of the reinforcements?"

"Depends…" said Jace. "Ours are just fine, the Sith reinforcements are retreating."

"Why?"

"I told them to…" Jace replied with another smirk. "They think they're talking to the dead guy over there."

Trek laughed, still keeping an eye on the head honcho. "You done right by me, Myrther." Revan caught up to Trek, and they both began staring down the Grand Sire, who was still on his throne. The Master and Commander of the Kraxis Rebellion had his eyes turn menacingly evil, wreathed in the burning hatreds.

Revan cared nothing for those kinds of emotions. The fight to get to this point had not gone well in his mind. HK-47 and Dustil taken out of commission, not to mention dozens of Trek's ground forces killed, in a deliberately small kind of attack with the bulk of the strength focused on blocking all escape routes. Sure Trek's reinforcements were holding out fine and the castle was completely sealed off, but much of the energy Revan had hoped to save was diminished. Trek did not look it, but Revan could also tell the man was a little tired from doing so many dozen pull-ups climbing the tower from the outside.

Everything he had worked towards; all of Revan's dealings since he had the dream and since he entered the Unknown Regions was with this very moment in mind, where the Grand Sire of the Sith would be destroyed, and with his death would come the shattering of the greatest threat to peace and justice in the galaxy.

It was nothing Revan wasn't used to, where all the pressure was on him even if everyone else in the galaxy was completely oblivious of these facts. Revan steeled himself and switched on _Heart of the Guardian_ and _Mantle of the Force_ in what he hoped to be the final duel he would ever have.

However there was but one single twist that completely eluded everyone, including Revan, and including Trek…until now.

"Wait a minute…" said Trek, furrowing his brow, eyes still brightly glaring at his enemy with fire. "_What is this!_"

From the face of Rixxon Zazz came another sickly yellow smile, this one much more evil than the last. It was the kind of smile delivered as if everything was meaningless…as if every attempt taken by Trek to belittle and undermine the Grand Sire was countered by one large slap in the face.

"I'm not waiting another minute," growled Revan. "We came here to finish this. Get up Grand Sire, and show us why it is you leads the True Sith!"

The kingly Sith on the throne began to oblige but Trek kicked him back into his chair. "You don't understand…" Trek said in a follow-up. "It's not him…"

Revan's blood started to freeze…goose bumps popped up all over his skin. He turned his head slowly to face Trek, who was staring back at him.

There was a pause before Revan spoke. "What?"

"This bloodsucker is _not_ Rixxon Zazz!" yelled Trek. "The real Rixxon Zazz is just as ugly and just as tattooed all over as he is…but even he brushes his teeth every day. The Sire's teeth are pure white…not this puke-inducing mix of urine and caviar…"

"No…" said Revan, in another one of his inarticulate frozen moments. "It can't be…_this has to be him!_"

"_He ain't the Grand Sire!_" yelled Trek. They both looked back at the others. Archie and Yuthura were also stunned at their words. The other soldiers still had their guns on the Sith but they were exchanging fearful glances.

"It took you long enough to figure it out…" said the imposter, smiling again. "I even smiled at you when you were looking at me through your binoculars this morning."

"Shut up," said Trek.

"Zazz _never_ misses out on his speech to the academy!" roared Revan as he slammed his fist hard on the Sith's hand. "_Where is he!_"

"Why should I tell you?" said the imposter, his voice unafraid of them all.

Trek switched both blades of his lightsaber on and held them along opposite sides of the Sith's head before crafting a pun. "I could think of a couple of burning good reasons…"

"Go ahead," said the imposter. "Do your worst. You have already lost this fight Amicus. It is only a matter of time until…" But Trek cut him off with a straight stab through the front of the neck with the shorter blade. The imposter choked on the orange blade, but Trek grabbed him by the hair and yanked it backwards, keeping the lightsaber in there until the Sith's eyes rolled backwards and his life expired. The satisfaction in Trek's eyes rivaled the satisfaction in Carth's eyes watching Saul Karath die. Trek was breathing heavily, as if he was staring down the cause of all the built up anger over so many years. Though a sworn enemy of the Sith, the dark side of the Force was always Trek's ally; the man possessed enough control to keep it and use it, even when it would appear to abandon him at the time when he would most need it. With a roar of frustration, Trek pulled the lightsaber out and switched it off.

This was it…Revan's thoughts were circulating hard and heavy again. This was precisely the vision he saw. He and Trek stood side by side in front of a dead Grand Sire…but it was not him; a lookalike, meant to fool him. The power signature was real; obviously fueled by the real Grand Sire's battle meditation abilities even from somewhere else.

"_Hole through the neck, by a lightsaber blade…Trek's lightsaber blade. Dead Sith and hostile humans on the ground…victorious scenery…not a real victory. No Dustil…no HK-47…no Lena Verado. Just like the dream…but I saw it! It happened exactly like this, and yet nothing like this! How could…? Oh, Rixxon Zazz, you son of a bitch…_"

Revan gave a deep and angry sigh, for he now understood what had happened, but he couldn't possibly find the means to explain it. It didn't matter anyway. Jace was still typing away on the computer. Yuthura was barking out orders to the rest of the squad to scour the rest of the castle and wipe out any and all human and Sith survivors.

"What now?" said Archie.

"I can answer that," said Jace. Though Revan knew it was next to impossible to read the boy, he could tell that in spite of everything that had just happened, from all the fighting to finding out that their target was a fake…Jace didn't seem to care. The tech happy kid was at the computer, like he had never left.

"What is it, Myrther?"

"We're receiving an incoming transmission…encrypted…secure holochannel, addressed to this throne room only. It's addressed to both of you…"

"Transmission from who?"

"Rixxon Zazz…"

* * *

_We hope you enjoyed this addition to "The Prodigal Knight". Our grand finale will be posted with the last four simultaneous chapters just as we planned._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	40. Chapter 39: The Razor's Edge

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark  
**

**

* * *

Chapter 39**

**The Razor's Edge

* * *

**

Four light years from the Mengskin System, in the very core of the Unknown Regions was the Sith capitol home world Voss, a planet teething with purple auras and violent energies capable of darkening the brightest stars in the galaxy. The surface of the planet was just as Amicus Trek had described it – barren, suffocative, the sound of the howling winds across the dry surface heard by none but the True Sith who basked in the energies of the planet, the energies of their ancestors.

At the very top of the highest tower in the middle of the moderate sized city that was the capitol sat the real Grand Sire. Rixxon Zazz sat comfortably on his throne gazing up through the open ended roof, occasionally letting some of the auras pulse through his body and then releasing it, a practice he would do several times a day when activity was relatively low. Running an official and unofficial empire was no easy task, but Zazz knew what he was doing – having done it for centuries.

"Grand Sire," said one of his aides, entering the room. "Rexx is on the live comm. and we have just received word that your decoy has been killed. Shall we begin transmission?"

"Yes," said Zazz. "It is time our enemies knew the size of the pit they have just stumbled into."

The aide pressed a button on his watch, and the large screen moved towards Zazz, turned on remotely. "Transmitting now; they should be getting a ring within the next few seconds."

* * *

_Back on Mengskin…_

Jace had successfully tapped into the Sith battle network and had transmitted the coordinates of five separate bases where the reinforcements were coming out of to the bomb squads. He had also set up a link to his own computer back on the _Quatra_, which was docked in the flagship, where he was able to use one of the programs he created to jam every anti-aircraft turret in all three cities as well as at the academy. A good segment of Jace's work before the castle invasion had been devoted to figuring much of this out, and he gave himself an arrogant smile once the bombs started falling on those hideouts.

But his work was interrupted when all of a sudden, a message popped up on his screen. "MESSAGE INCOMING".

"_What the hell?_" Jace thought. "_Damn pop-ups…_" He closed the box, but it reappeared with a new message. "PRIORITY LEVEL 9000 – RESPOND IMMEDIATELY".

Jace quickly flipped through a manual in the bottom drawer of the desk to figure out what this meant until he came upon the priority level index.

_Level 9000: Unique to Voss in the Grand Sire's throne. Failure to respond is punishable by death._

"_Great…more good news,_" thought Jace. Even though he had been working diligently, he had still heard everything, from Trek's cursing to brief segments of Revan's thoughts at the sight of a fake Grand Sire. And now the real Grand Sire was not going to like this. "_Trek's not going to like this…how to tell them…_" he pondered.

In the next pause in the conversations, Archie stepped in. "What now?"

Jace jumped at the opportunity. "I can answer that."

"What is it, Myrther?" growled Trek.

"We're receiving an incoming transmission…encrypted…secure holochannel, addressed to this throne room only. It's addressed to both of you…"

"Transmission from who?" Trek asked.

"Rixxon Zazz…"

Trek scowled. "He's calling to rub it in, I just know it…"

"I don't think so," said Revan.

"Take your time in deciding whether or not to answer it," Jace snarled sarcastically, annoyed that the box was still flashing in front of him. "The enforcer for the mandatory response rule is probably dead…"

"Fine, put him through." Jace touched the screen and allowed the signals to connect. A large screen came down from the ceiling, stopping in front of Jace and turned on, revealing the face of Rixxon Zazz, sitting comfortably on his throne.

"Good evening gentlemen," said Zazz, a smile growing on his face. "Amicus…how nice to see you."

"What do you want, Zazz?" growled Trek. "To tell us that you're coming here in person instead of hiding behind those Sith fumes? You're a damn coward!"

"And who is this?" said Zazz, ignoring Trek's comment and turning his attention to Revan. "Ah yes; the man who planned this bold operation. The Prodigal Knight himself…Darth Revan."

"_Darth_ Revan?" Trek commented, looking at Revan, but he was ignored.

"It's not Darth," said Revan, his cold tone rivaling Zazz's. "Not anymore."

"I must say," said Zazz. "For such an intelligent and strategically sound individual like yourself, you are quite the disappointment."

"Keep talking," said Revan. "You're one snide insinuation away from a permanent disconnect."

"_Actually he's not…_" said Jace to Revan through the Force. "_I no longer have control over this channel._"

"Oh, but you already know," said Zazz, increasing his smile so that Revan and Trek could now see the shining white teeth that distinguished him from the decoy.

"What the hell is he jabbering about?" Trek asked to Revan.

"A vision," said Revan. "All this…you, atomic hawks, castle, dead Grand Sire…bastard put it into my head."

"Oh…"

"_He put a dream into your head!_" Myrther said to Revan through the Force. "_That's…impressive…any chance I can infiltrate a Sith Academy when we get out of here so I can learn that trick?_"

"Yet you endeavored to chase the dream with unwavering loyalty," said the Grand Sire. "For one who believes to have broken free from the will of the Force, to have risen above the will of others, eventually to spell doom upon me and my kind, here you stand, a light year away from the true objective, tortured by your own incompetence. You were so close to understanding the Force, but how could you ever cross such a milestone when you could not even understand the foe you face?

"And to think I had even a shed of respect for you considering your achievements, when you crushed the Mandalorians by learning their ways! You crushed Darth Malak by re-learning your old ways…and you think that after hearing a few unkind words about us from Trek that now you know everything! Bastila would be so disappointed."

That last comment was a much harder blow to Revan. The Grand Sire seemed to know what made him tick. This grilling was much more psychological than anything else. Revan twitched his jaw slightly, the only giving in motion from the otherwise cold expression.

"_Bite the tongue, Revan…_" he thought.

"You're sensitive," remarked Zazz. "Well I cannot say I blame you. I myself have never been in as humiliating a situation, where your mission, which you sweated gallons upon gallons of blood to ensure the success of turned out to be set up to fail from the start.

"Your presence became known to me when you first entered my empire. I have been monitoring you quite closely; I deliberately kept the fleets away from you even when there were so many opportunities to grab you. I wanted to see what you could do, and see if you would follow the path I laid out for you. Once it became clear to me that this was indeed your goal, it was only a matter of making your visions more and more real. I believe the poetic term to describe your situation is…so close and yet so far away?"

"Who am I to argue?" countered Revan. "Obviously you have the advantage here."

"And you," Zazz turned his head to lock eyes with Trek. "Back in your time with us, your brutality had _purpose_ behind it. Now it has made you reckless and stupid. I almost feel sorry for you."

"No you don't…" came Trek's cold reply.

"Oh but I do," continued Zazz. "Shifting 180 degrees could not have been easy, yet you act as if you have always belonged to the side that you are on now. You would really seek to undo my work at the blink of an eye, even when you were so instrumental to its happening? I never despised humanity; there has always been potential in your kinds, but the characteristics in a race most essential for upbringing have always been jaded by such a short lifespan for humans. By separating the genetically superior and putting them in the conditions to live for as long as possible, these traits are aspired, and as such are great men and women born…like you. Humanity has a place in my galaxy, Trek, yet you act as if one race cannot exist without the other. It is truly a shame to see how far you have fallen. In your shoes I would have preferred death."

"Come down here, I'll give you a death in your own damn shoes," growled Trek. "It is not the place of another species to decide the fate of mine. It was _you_ who helped me to understand this. If you feel sorry for me, it's because you think that you're the one to kill me."

"Trek's right," said Revan. "You defend your suffocative actions by a completely deceptive attempt at pithy justification. You need humans; you need us to exercise our violent and aggressive nature against ourselves in the most inhospitable of conditions so the dark side of the Force is enhanced. Eugenic disparity and psychological trickery are the only way to get that. You want to keep a selective set of almost everyone down on the inside, doomed to destroy ourselves in everlasting conflict, a place where we fail to see you for your flaws and weaknesses. It doesn't matter if this little mission failed. You're going to die by my hand one way or another."

"By all means try," said Zazz, now beginning to laugh. "I do respect the attempt. No one but the Grand Apprentice has ever been bold enough to attempt to take down the Grand Sire of the Sith. Of course, look where that got you…"

Trek turned his head to Jace. "Tell me you've got control back…" Jace merely shook his head.

"But I have tormented you enough," said Zazz. "My time with you must be cut short, but before I go, I would like to introduce you to my Chief of Staff. He has been very eager to finally speak with Revan. Trek, I'm sure you remember him. I bid you a final farewell, gentlemen."

The transmission turned fuzzy for a few seconds. "It's Norbus Rexx…" said Trek. "The Sith who killed my family. We should go."

"We should stay," replied Revan. "I need to hear this."

"I'm pretty sure, you're not going to like this…"

"Oh I guarantee you're not going to like this," said General Rexx who was now on the screen. The general was standing at the top of a high tower over a hot molten surface for a planet that looked like an uncivilized version of Mustafar. Next to Rexx was a black hooded figure, face and body fully concealed by the dark robes, standing like a statue next to the General without a hint of expression.

"I know you," said Revan. "You were the one who sent Mandalore to his death when you told him to take Malachor V." But Revan turned his gaze to the figure next to Rexx, trying to figure out who it was and what it was actually doing.

"Very astute of you," said Rexx. "It's interesting to finally see the real enemy as they are, is it not? Constant battles and bloodshed and yet at the end of the day all you really killed were the pawns. Let's get down to business. If the words of the Grand Sire were not alarming enough, you ought to know that this was not all his idea."

"_Human, most likely…_" thought Revan of the other one. "_The robes are thick…they deceive height. Person is most likely shorter than me…_"

"Typical," sneered Trek. "Always trying to take as much credit as you can in order to beef up your own minuscule importance compared to the Grand Sire."

"Watch that tone Trek," replied Rexx. "You should be grateful. As you no doubt are aware, this was a trap. There are four separate fleets headed straight for Mengskin, each one coming through a different hyperspace route. Your rebellion has been forced into a corner."

"_Could be a man or woman…no way to really tell…robes are too thick. Unknown location…probably too far to sense out…damn it, who is this person?_"

"And this should make me grateful…how?"

"These fleets are just over one hour away," said Rexx. "Should be ample time to prepare…even for you, Trek." Trek grimaced, but Rexx continued.

"Why the hell would you bother giving us that window?" said Revan.

"He wants to prove that he can still win," said Trek. "He's got us trapped, cornered, surrounded, outnumbered, and outgunned. He knows even an understudy can win under those conditions."

"Oh shut it," growled Rexx. "Do you honestly think I would have given you this little handicap if there was even the slightest chance that your rebellion would survive? I simply think that in the pages of history, the story of Amicus Trek ought not to be tainted with a boring and inconclusive death." Rexx paused for a moment

Revan's attention was once again turned to the stranger next to Rexx. "_Has to be alive…no purpose of a stone statue there. Yet the barely visible expression is blank. Rexx is on this planet with that person for a reason._"

His questioned were answered sooner than he expected. "However, that is only half of the news. Revan, I have something here that belongs to you. I have no further use for it, and I would like to return it to you." The dark hooded figure finally moved, turning its head towards Rexx, but the rest of the body was still and nothing seemed to register.

"What?" Revan asked, maintaining his cold tone and still eying the figure.

Rexx turned to the figure. "Come now…don't be shy. I'm sure Revan will be glad to know you're alive."

The figure's hands extended from the inside of the sleeves but they were masked by black gloves. The right hand grabbed a chunk of the thick robes at lapel level and ripped the entire robe off, finally exposing the face and equally dark assassin clothes underneath. It was a twi'lek. Her skin was green and she bore a red dot above her silver eyes, and Revan now knew exactly who he was looking at.

"_Oh no…_" he thought. "_Damn it!_"

"Poor Lena has had quite the brutal six months," said Rexx. "Surely you wondered what happened to her…I'm quite surprised your search stopped at Shikara."

"What have you done to her?" roared Revan.

"Nothing that cannot be undone…" snapped Rexx. "The fleets are now one hour away. I have given the order not to intercept the _Ebon Hawk_ while in hyperspace, but if they catch you in that system, you die. Come to the Phroz system, the third planet…exact coordinates are 23.87 degrees south, and 103.66 degrees east. Come alone…and I will give you back your broken comrade. Tick…tock, Revan." Rexx cut off the communication.

"I've got control again…" said Jace about two seconds later.

"One hour, that's about enough time to get to the ship and prepare our defenses," said Archie.

"Get everyone aboard," said Trek. "We're going to have to bludgeon our way through one of those fleets to make our escape. Revan you…" Trek turned back to where Revan was standing but he was not there. Trek looked at Jace and Jace pointed his finger to the door. "_Move it!_" Trek yelled as he darted after Revan.

Revan walked briskly and speedily down the hall. "Cassandra, land the _Hawk_ and get everyone out except for T3-M4." Trek caught up to him. "Yes, that includes Dustil. Make sure the shuttle gets him to the _Hammer _asap."

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm going after Rexx," said Revan.

"Stop," said Trek, putting his hand in front of Revan to block him, but Revan went straight through it. "Are you serious!" Trek bellowed. "It's a trap!"

"I don't care…" replied Revan in a harsh tone.

"But it's a trap!"

"Still don't care…" came the reply. "I will return, but don't wait around."

Trek was baffled. This was a side of Revan he had never met before, but he could tell that Revan was angry and serious. There was no doubt that it was a trap. If Rexx had an army of Sith on that planet to greet him, Revan was going to kill every single one or die trying.

The shuttles landed on the roof of the castle and the men began loading up to leave the castle. The Ebon Hawk landed on the north wall where Revan stood to meet it. Yuthura came out first.

"What the hell is going on? Why are you taking the ship?"

"I found Lena," said Revan. "I'm going after her and I'm going alone."

"You don't even know how to fly the ship!"

"Are you willing to bet on that!" Revan shouted. "Take the shuttles and get back to the fleet! They're going to need your help!" Yuthura knew not to argue so she carried Dustil's stretcher, the boy still unconscious. Cassandra merely gave him an odd look, but Revan didn't care.

"Good luck!" Cassandra yelled as she turned back, but the ramp was already closed. Within seconds, the Ebon Hawk was in the air, blasting its way out of the crisp and cool Mengskin air to outer space. Cassandra caught up to Yuthura who was already down the wall with Dustil. "If he's supposed to go alone why did he take the droids…?"

"They're not going to care," said Yuthura. "And neither will he."

* * *

_In the skies above Mengskin…_

Commander Rainer sat in his private chamber in the _Pincer_, the rest of the crew monitoring space activity and working to keep the fleet undercover. The man was doing his best to ignore the large stack of papers sitting on his desk, all of them reports with information he already had that merely needed to be filed, but they seemed to stare at him in a mocking fashion. Luckily, he was distracted by an incoming call from Commander Jono.

"Rainer here," he said.

"Emergency transmissions from Trek," said Jono. "Weird beyond belief…he said the whole thing was a flop…Zazz was never there."

Rainer said nothing, waiting to hear more.

"He also said the Sith are on their way with four separate fleets and we're effectively trapped…" Rainer still said nothing but stared through the screen. "Are you listening to me!"

"Sorry," said Rainer. "I was just waiting for the 'just kidding' part…"

"It's no joke!" exclaimed Jono. "Trek and the rest of the team is headed back here, except for Revan, who for some reason has clearance by the Sith to leave."

"And he's doing it…" Rainer said, his tone hinting a questioning of Revan's loyalty.

"Yeah but the rest of his party is still here. Trek said Revan will be back, but he's ordered all battle stations at full alert. We need to get moving. I've got Knox and Kale on hold; you get a hold of the others."

As each individual commander in the fleet became aware of the situation, shuttles from the surface flew straight for them, with Trek, Archie, Jace, Revan's crew, and the rest of the surviving soldiers. Minutes later, Trek was back on the bridge of the _Hammer of Judgment_ with Archie and Jace while Yuthura, Dustil, and Cassandra integrated themselves with the flagship's defense stations.

"Listen up!" yelled Trek to the bridge. "Despite all the Sith we trampled in the castle, the original plan is history. The Sith are on their way now, but they were kind enough to give us an hour to prepare. We're going to make them regret that act of charity…"

"Trek…" interrupted Jace, but Trek did not listen.

"Saww, what route do you recommend?"

"Rexx was right," said Archie. "We've got only four hyperspace tunnels and there's a fleet in each one. We try to hit hyperspace in any of them, even now, there's no way we won't crash ourselves straight into them."

"Trek…" Jace repeated again in a musing tone.

"Then we'll have to bludgeon our way through one of those fleets right as soon as they make it and get out through one of the routes before the rest of them can catch up," said Trek. "How about the Sphinx Road, way to the north?"

"No good," said Archie. "The nebula is in the way. Mengskin was the perfect trap, sir. That nebula blocks any natural escape route to the west and south of us. We won't have a lot of room to punch through the fleet that way and make it out, not to mention, it leads us straight towards Voss, via three different defense platforms."

"Trek…"

"Then we'll need to take the far east route," said Trek.

"That's a challenge just to get there in time," said Archie. "But you're right, it's the safest way, and it's the farthest from the rest of the tunnels. I'll tell the others…"

"_TREK!_" Jace yelled.

"_What!_" Trek turned around in an even louder yell. "What the hell do you want?"

"I just want to tell you that I have another solution…" he said. "But if you don't want to hear it…"

"Start talking," Trek interrupted.

"There's another way," said Jace, pulling up the grid again. "Another escape route we can take, right…here." Jace pointed to a place on the map, causing Trek and Archie to immediately furrow their brows. His finger was pointing to a point on the southern edge of the Psytosis Nebula not far from the corner, but a good distance away from Mengskin itself."

"Very funny, Myrther," said Trek.

"No, I'm serious," said Jace. "We can get out through the nebula."

"I think you have a problem with your brain being missing," said Archie. "That nebula is suicide…no one's ever gotten through it – only around it. With all the debris and space radiation…"

"You're not listening!" yelled Jace. "And you're wasting time we don't have! What do you think I've been doing these past six months with all my research trips to the nebula and my lack of participation in your other shenanigans? Or did you think I was just being lazy?"

"Could have fooled me…" snarled Archie.

"Then you're the fool," countered Jace. "But listen." Jace pulled up the map again and began syncing hyperspace coordinates into them, ignoring all the warning signs. "Ignore your computer's warnings," he said. "This is real, but instruments can only pick it up at nearly point blank range. Here's a picture of it…" Jace reached into his pocket and pulled out his comm. device, displaying the opening on the three dimensional screen.

"I don't understand," said Archie. "You found an opening in the nebula by which we can exit? No way could something that big elude us."

"Yeah well you didn't look hard enough," said Jace. "But it's very narrow; I'm talking clear tunnel with a radius of just a few dozen meters. These ships can only fit in a single file line, but in order for it to work, we'll need to be right up against it. That means a manual crawl towards the Psytosis Nebula to line up with it."

"That's too risky," said Archie. "We'd never make it in time. By my watch, the Sith are forty minutes away. It'll take us twice that time to get us there, and we don't have enough fuel in reserve to risk running hot."

"Then we shouldn't be wasting time arguing when we can get a forty minute head start on the Sith," sneered Jace. "I've built other devices that will slow the Sith down, give enough time for us to make our escape. It's not perfect, but it's better than all your other moronic ideas."

"Commander, this is crazy," said Archie.

"Yeah it is," said Trek. "But he's right…all our other plans are just plain stupid. Let's do it. Myrther, transmit these coordinates to the rest of the fleet; Archie get on the comm. and let the others know what we're doing. We need to move, _now!_"

The _Hammer of Judgment_ turned around faster than the other ships, most of which were only receiving the new orders by the time the flagship had made a full reversal.

Jace cooked up a set of cool energy drinks for the engine crew from his lab and then dispersed them. Though Trek requested one as well, Jace took the final one and drank it himself. In his frustration, still reeling from all the fighting down below, Trek was slightly humored by the facts that even if Jace's brilliant discoveries managed to save all their lives, and if Trek was now in Jace's debt, if not further even, the tension between them would probably never change. Jace had made it clear that he had no hatred for Trek, just a conniving disrespect, given his ignorance and lack of foresight. Trek knew that he could not help but to respect Jace as well, given all he did during the fighting as well as what he was doing for the rebellion now, but what would the rest of the rebels think of them suddenly becoming good pals even after everything that had happened? Even Trek thought that was crazy, so in his mind, he had to shield his thoughts with an extra layer and continue to be cold, just towards Myrther.

With everyone else focused on the mission, the only other with peculiar feelings was Cassandra. Even though she had gone with Yuthura to help prepare the ship's defenses, she felt quite useless, as she did not know how to operate them. This was war, an experience that was still knew to her. Her hands were still quite dainty and pretty, as opposed to Yuthura, which, underneath the tattoos, were rough and hard, a fact that made her blush to herself when no one was looking. She even wondered if she was fit for this and thinking of her brother was not even enough to squelch it.

It seemed that she had gave herself the chance to try and fight back and she still wanted to, but amongst all that, she instead found something better – someone to be care about in a loving way. Without even being noticed, Cassandra found herself having left the battle stations, walking with somewhat poor posture around the hectic noise of others scrambling. She made her way to the infirmary where Dustil was still unconscious. Thanks to her own medicinal skills, as well as a generous donation of blood from Jace, who along with Revan, was the only other person they knew that matched Dustil's blood type, he was stable, but still badly burned on his chest from both the laser blast and the lightning. His face was okay with the exception of a few minor cuts, and it was here that Cassandra noticed for the first time how his hair had gotten a bit longer. She flushed again, while gently tussling it with her hands.

Dustil's vital signs were okay, and Cassandra increased the airflow of the room to help try and open up some of the wounds to the oxygen. She knew that he could not be waken, and if he was, it would not be healthy, but she smiled upon him, sitting herself down beside him.

"Tell me about those devices you built," said Trek.

"I figured out a vulnerable consistency in the high-bandwidth channels of the Sith network. Their systems are designed to be as open as possible and their work was sloppy – most likely built in a hurry. It structures like a neural network but the specific programming codes they make don't have a lot of margin for error. If the wrong program enters the wrong machine…" Trek's look grew impatient so Jace made his long story short. "Techno-babble aside, I programmed a virus that will infiltrate their network and scramble the codes of their communication and electronic systems. Basically it disables their most essential combat functions and leaves their ships defenseless until they can fix it."

"And how long does that take?"

"Probably no more than half an hour – more likely twenty minutes. But it's enough time to make a break for it."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind for when we have to use it. Get back to your lab and make sure it works. I need to brief the board."

Back on the bridge of the ship, Archie Saww oversaw the turnaround with the rest of the fleet, everyone now up to speed on the new plan. Trek reentered the bridge after finishing another brief conference with the rest of the board. Things were moving fast now, which was exactly what Trek wanted. Since the disconnect with General Rexx, it had now been half an hour but only speculation as to how much of a head start they would have and if the Sith would figure their plan out in time.

But all speculation came to another halt when Garrisson made a shout. "Sir! We've got incoming! Sith fleet coming out of hyperspace through the Sphinx Road!" Archie turned around, but Garrisson spoke again. "Make that two…another fleet coming in through another channel…"

"I'm reading another one!" yelled Rocha.

"Commander!" Archie yelled to Trek, when he noticed that Trek had not heard any of that, for he was telling Jace to get back to the bridge as soon as he was well enough to walk from all the blood he gave to Dustil. Trek looked up at Archie, but then immediately directed his gaze outward to space where he saw it.

Coming directly out of hyperspace one right after another came four separate fleets, each one about the size of Trek's fleet, making for a total of thirty Sith dreadnoughts.

"Oh no…" Archie gasped, but Trek immediately started cursing under his breath. He knew he should have expected this. General Rexx had lied to him, only giving him half the time. Now the Rebel fleet was still 650,000 kilometers away from the Psytosis Nebula and moving very slowly, comparable to the Sith that were hard on their stern.

Meanwhile in the Med Lab, Jace had listened to all bridge activity through the Force and knew what happened. They were going to need his help again, and his newly installed modifications that had never even been tested were now going to be put up to task.

"_Here comes the razor's edge…"_


	41. Chapter 40: Showdown Over Phrozen Lava

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

**

**Chapter 40**

**Showdown Over Phrozen Lava

* * *

**

The _Ebon Hawk_ zoomed its way through the Crescent Pass at point three past light speed, by all readings passing through the Shikara system. Revan sat at the helm with only T3-M4 on the ship, working on HK-47's repair. Revan could tell that the droid was having difficulty but by the Sith's standards, he was coming alone.

A blip on his radar appeared that caught his eye, a small reading a good distance away from the Shikara defense network, making him notice it and distinguish it as something else. The blip got bigger and bigger, seeming to approach the _Hawk_ faster and faster. As it passed overhead from the other side, Revan figured out what it was.

"_The fleet…_" he thought. "_Half hour early…I should have anticipated the deception. More surprises likely on the way…_"

However, Rexx had seemed to keep his word on calling off the _Ebon Hawk's_ interception. He was now far past Shikara, where the Sith could have easily arranged a trap and he would have been hopeless. If Revan could detect the fleet passing him in the opposite direction, then they probably would have detected him too, yet they did not make a move. Lena's emergence on the scene was one surprise, and definitely not the only one the Sith had in store for him, especially if what the Grand Sire said was true, about all of it being a setup.

All matters of trying to warn Trek of the trickery seemed counterproductive at the moment. Revan's blood was boiling so hot, he could feel himself heating up at the ears. The mission was priority, but this was also personal. Though it could hardly be anything new, considering that his entire venture to the Unknown Regions was personal, only once before had he ever felt the way he did now.

He was being barraged with surprise after surprise, and he hated it. Looking at his arm, he noticed a vein on his bicep bulging and pulsing faster than usual. Touching the side of his face, he could feel the scar on his eye again, another trinket of war and conflict he still could hardly recall.

"_Easy, Revan…_" he thought to himself. But if only it could have been that simple, for the last time the mission was personal was when he was hitting the Star Forge. Bastila was using her battle meditation skills to aid the Sith and had escaped him once already. The mission to turn her back took priority even over killing Malak, and Revan remembered the way he felt while on the station. The feeling was hitting him again, all the physical symptoms showing themselves already, and he knew it was too early for his own good.

T3-M4 made some warbled noises of concern at him, Revan realized that the droid seemed to have given up on repairing his assassin droid. Even his astromech droid, a being deaf to the Force, could sense Revan's energy. That was a worry, but there was one more element that Revan had already thought about – something he had neglected before but now seemed like no better a time.

"Take the helm T3," he said as he walked away.

The Phroz System was still a couple light years away, a solid forty five minutes at least that needed to be killed. He could not sleep, his own fatigue muddled by the endorphins created by his aerobic warm-ups. The Baragwin Shadow Armor was off and Revan exercised in the garage, doing hundreds of push-ups, sit-ups, squad thrusts, and reverse sit-ups. Then he did a few thousand jumping jacks, allowing the Force to flow through him and keep his energies reserved. It would have been death by adrenaline for any normal person, but Revan could do it, barely breaking a sweat. And most importantly, this was the best way to clear his mind and prepare for what could very well be a one way trip. Revan had no sense of self-deception about it. Lena needed to be rescued, and Rexx needed to be confronted, yet he told Yuthura and Trek in a somewhat patronizing way that he would return.

"_Conditioning cool down,_" he thought as he finished his final workouts. "_No point debating with myself about this again. I'm ready, and they're ready for me…but they won't be ready for this._"

With the castle raid a failure, Revan was exhausted at first, but he knew that he could not risk neither the sleep nor lactic buildup between that and the next mission which was likely to be worse. Doing physical activity was a way for him to relax his muscles and his powers, ease the tension in his body so to prepare for the next mission. That was all that mattered, and he had been used to that even in his early days.

With the _Ebon Hawk_ still in hyperspace, not to exit for another twenty minutes, the time was now. Revan used the Force to lightly enter the code Red-47 into the secret compartment and he summoned the box to him. His trademark armor had waited long enough. Vandar spoke of the possibility that he may need it, and now, he needed it.

He started by putting on the flexible jumpsuit he would wear underneath the exterior armor, for comfort and mobility. Revan then put on the hooded black robes on and tied both sides together in the middle. The cape dangled behind him forming a slight arch covering his entire back side. He continued by hefting the heavy black and crimson colored chest plate and putting it over his head and on his upper body over the robes. To fasten it, Revan attached the two shoulder pauldrons to the front and back ends of the chest plate where his shoulder blades were. To complete the fastening of the chest plate, Revan wrapped around and tightly secured the sash with the chain ring on the front connecting the three big parts to it – the upper thin fiber cords that wrapped around his lower chest perfectly, the thick cloth fibers that wrapped around his waist, and the single piece of black and crimson cloth that dangled barely a few inches off the floor. After putting on and fastening his armored metal boots, Revan put on his flexible but sturdy vambraces on both of his hands, putting them on with his hand stretched out wide and then clenching his fists tightly. Just as he was able to do with the belt of his Heavy Exoskeleton Armor, Revan attached his two lightsabers to the back of his armored sash in an X-shape. He also holstered Bendak Starkiller's blaster in the secret holster in his boot.

Finally, he summoned the obsidian mask. The last time he looked at it, it stared back at him in a mocking fashion, reminding him of everything he had done and had become with his face behind it. But Revan was mentally prepared for that, his willpower suppressing those memories below the surface temporarily.

"_I can't think about the past…_" he thought. "_Only about what I'm going to do…and the Sith must be made to understand how far I am willing to go to get Lena back._" He told himself that over and over again as he fastened the mask to his face. As he opened his eyes to see through the red visor, everything was crisp and clear, merely a light red hue over almost like an infrared setting.

The clock was ticking, and the hyperspace tunnel was approaching the Phroz System. "Stabilize all systems," said Revan to his astromech droid that was still piloting the ship. "Exit in three…two…one…"

Revan pulled the lever back and the starlines faded back into stars as well as planets, precisely four of them, though they were all so close to each other, the latter three could have been moons. Phroz I was an oddly shaped ice rock, completely frozen and uninhabitable even to the thickest of skins. Phroz II and IV were gas giants. Strangely enough, Phroz III was a volcanic world with incredibly thick atmospheric levels so to keep the heat in. The oxygen on the planet was thin but still breathable. Scans showed no civilization, but metallic industry, with hovered stations over the lava which seemed to be flowing everywhere. Volcanoes were constantly erupting and oh so often, lava would flow from one volcano into another, like a chain.

As he entered the atmosphere, it took minutes to get the black clouds out of the way so he could actually see what he was landing on but the planet looked just like Mustafar, only there were many more scattered areas of solid rock and the skyscraping towers were actually siphons for the heat and magma as well as automated factories.

Another strange thing was that his scans read no sign of any True Sith platoon or brigade. He could already feel the presence of General Rexx, one of those energy sources that stood out amongst others, and he set the ship down as near as he could. Looking out the cockpit through his visor, he zoomed in on the tower where sure enough the Sith Commander was still standing there with Lena still as a statue, like they had never moved. That was a good sign, but this was a trap and Revan knew it.

"You brought your droids," Revan heard Rexx say through the loud speakers as he entered the base.

"You want me? Here I am. Now let her go." Revan demanded of the General.

"Oh, and you brought your armor!" exclaimed Rexx. "This day just keeps getting better and better. Anyway, you know where we are, so just come this way. I have sent the East Elevator down for you."

Revan grudgingly obeyed, slowly moving to the tower. Once again, he was not attacked, ambushed, or even given the sense that he was being watched by anyone but Rexx. "_What is he planning?_" Revan asked himself. He still had no way to tell and though the fighting hadn't started yet, he could feel a drop of sweat make its way down from his brow.

The elevator was indeed waiting for him and Revan took it up to the roof. The double doors opened and there stood Rexx and Lena right beside him, still in the same spot. Revan coolly walked towards them at full posture, keeping his left hand behind him, loosely fidgeting with _Mantle of the Force_.

"What kind of friend are you?" said Rexx with a grin. "Your allies are slowly being slaughtered over Mengskin and you're taking your sweet time smelling the lava daisies."

"Where's the trap?" demanded Revan. "C'mon…you have an army somewhere here…call them up, I'll tear them apart."

"Where?" said Rexx. "I told you, this meeting was just you, me, and Miss Verado here."

Revan's eyes narrowed on Lena. The feeling he had about her earlier was further supported here, but in an even more perplexing way. Not only did she move, but Revan felt nothing from her. He could not feel the unique aura of her presence. "_She's here…right before my eyes, yet the Force tells me that she isn't._"

"The Force is wrong," said Rexx, grinning again after hearing his thoughts. "She's here…look." Rexx lightly tapped his hand on the top of her head. Lena still made no motion.

"You're a waste of my time. If you don't have an army coming at me right now, then here's how this is going down. You give her to me, and I give you a thirty second head start before I start eviscerating you."

"Don't try and intimidate me. If my jokes and charitable acts fail to flatter you, you should understand by now that I am _very_ smart, and _very_ strategic. Even after completely screwing you from the beginning, you still may not think much of Rixxon Zazz, but you better show me some respect, because it is not him that you need be worried about. _I_ am your real enemy. Don't believe me? Trek is history…as is the whole Kraxis Rebellion; all of that – my doing. The castle traps, that idiot head of security, the decoy, even the concealing of Lena from you – all me. The Grand Sire is just the one with the big plan. I'm the one who carries it out. And even if that isn't enough to impress you, I fooled you easy enough."

"Real enemy or not, you're still a waste of my time! Give her to me and start running. That's the best chance you're going to get."

"You talk as if the cards are in your favor," replied Rexx. "Have you taken a closer look at your friend?"

"You said that what's been to her is nothing that can't be undone."

"Yes, but I conveniently neglected to mention that it's something only a swift and merciful death could fix. You don't even know what I did; are you really so willing to try and kill me before understanding?"

"Sure," said Revan as he began moving toward Rexx, taking out _Mantle of the Force._

"_This is too easy…_" he thought. "_Two sword sheaths yet no swords in them…no defensive position. He plays too much. I'll have to beat the truth out of him…_"

Revan took a swing right at Rexx's chest, but a silver lightsaber blade intercepted his blow and clashed. Lena's face was still blank and ridden of all human emotion.

And as the blades crossed in front of the True Sith top military official, he began to laugh.

* * *

_In the skies above Mengskin…_

With the four separate Sith fleets arrived at the same time, the rebel fleet was still moving towards the Psytosis Nebula in wedge formation, bracing the attack. The fourth Sith fleet was staying behind to provide reinforcements and the other three fleets were burning hard, quickly gaining on the fleet to surround it. The Sith fleets were operating individually, not condensing themselves into one massive armada, but that only made things look worse from Trek's standpoint because he could tell the Sith also had a morale and competitive advantage.

"Rebels!" he yelled over the comm. "We've taken a loss and the Sith have us facing impossible odds again, but we're not out yet! We can still make it to the nebula and elude them! Steel yourselves!"

One fleet that was slightly smaller than the others was now flying beside the rebel fleet at the same speed, readying their guns. The _Vendetta_ was already returning fire and launching its fighters, and the _Hibben Claw_ began to do the same. It was likely that the Sith did not expect such an immediate defensive attack because one of their dreadnoughts was immediately blown to pieces by concentrated fire before they could launch their own fighters to intercept.

The second Sith fleet caught up on the other side, but this time they were ready. The _Jackknife, Spear Tip,_ and _Sonic Boom_ engaged them as well, but Trek's orders were repeated over and over again – to not break formation and to not stop moving.

The only ship in the rebel fleet that could break formation and help was the flagship, which had more than enough fuel to do so. Archie had the operators circle the _Hammer_ upward and back, putting heavy fire on the Sith fighters that were targeting it. The flagship did not have as many fighter squadrons to spare, so they were ordered not to launch, the Sith launched more and more at the whole fleet in an effort to kill the rebel fighters that were already deployed.

Jace had taken control of the automated guns of the flagship, using three separate programs to make the targeting systems more efficient and focused on the big ships as opposed to the fighters. So far, he had successfully slowed two Sith warships from keeping up by taking out half of their rear engine thrusters as well as the front deflector shields of another.

"_They're getting cocky_," Jace thought. "_Don't the Sith realize how much better our ships are compared to their own?_"

As the third Sith fleet came in closer, the battle was getting bigger and more heated. Trek's fleet was holding on and still moving, but not nearly close enough to the nebula to make the jump. With the _Hammer of Judgment_ circling to the aid of the others and then back to formation, the first Sith fleet had been thinned to about two-thirds of its strength, but those losses were easily supplemented by the third fleet attacking them from behind.

"I can activate the pulse magnet now," said Jace through the comm. "Might be a good time to…"

"No!" Trek commanded. "Not yet."

"Suit yourself…" Jace cut transmission and continued working to expose the fuel cells of another one of the dreadnoughts.

"Close up formation," Trek ordered, and immediately the rear ships – the _Hibben Claw_ and the _Sonic Boom_ moved closer to each other, so to prevent the third fleet from penetrating them from the center.

It seemed to work, but the _Sonic Boom_ was taking a lot of fire. One particularly ambitious captain of a Sith dreadnought in the second fleet bypassed the formation and was able to move to the middle of the rebel fleet, but before it could do any real damage, the guns of every ship in the rebel fleet with the exception of the flagship obliterated it.

However, at this point, it looked like the last laugh the Kraxis Rebellion would ever get.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"What the hell is this!" yelled Revan, blade still crossed with Lena's.

"I told you not to underestimate me." said Rexx.

"Fix her, now!"

"She's fine. She's in perfect physical shape – her reflexes, her strength, her abilities, her senses, her powers…it's all there and all top notch. This is Lena Verado…"

"In body only!" countered Revan. "What have you done with her mind?"

"We seduced her to the dark side, we turned her over to our cause, and she helped lay out this trap for you…"

"You're lying!" Revan said more subdued. "Don't play with me anymore!"

"You're right," said Rexx with another childish grin. "I was lying. Very well, I'll be a sport and tell you. The truth is, Lena never broke. So loyal to you…I don't think you have any idea. Her mind was like a frozen shirt…we just couldn't get it open."

"_Is he telling the truth?_" Revan thought. "_Lena didn't break for years before…now she's broken upon their will…yet it's different from the usual turnover. Damn it! Why does it always have to be something different?_"

Revan switched off his lightsaber and backed off a bit, but Lena kept the single blade aimed at him.

"A long time ago, the Grand Sire taught me a nifty trick with the Force – if one's mind is too powerful to break, that may render the mind useless to us, but that doesn't necessarily render the body useless to us too, especially if we can find a way to separate the two. Obviously the body cannot live without the mind, so instead, we suppress it – we push the conscious mind deeper to the point at which it bears no meaning, but the subconscious and all the neurological connections to the body stay. Obviously a willing mind is a better result, but this is the next best thing.

"What you are looking at right now is Lena Verado – battle hardened, quick, nimble, and strong as ever, but she cannot hear you. Her body is in control of her – and I am in control of her body, like a puppet master pulling the strings. She will not listen; she does not know that you are standing right here."

Revan sighed, desperately trying to hold back from exploding onto Rexx with anger. "_He's not bluffing…_" he thought. "_So far the general has excelled at telling the truth but not the whole truth or nothing but…_"

Revan took off his mask and let both Rexx and Lena see his face. "Lena," he said. "It's me…it's Revan. Listen please... _Come back to me!_"

Rexx smirked again and watched as Revan repeated the same words twice more. Lena made no move, but continued pointing her lightsaber blade at him.

Revan looked over to Rexx but his mind began racing with possibilities and solutions. "_Rexx controls her mind…he couldn't remove it – he only severed its connection to the body. The Jedi did similar with me, and my mind slowly returned. All it needed was a few catalysts…_"

"Lena," he said again. "You're not yourself. You're being manipulated by the dark side of the Force! Remember what happened last time? Remember Malachor V?"

"Give it a rest. You can't fix her."

"Oh yes I can!" bellowed Revan. "And if you want to stop me, you're going to have to kill me."

Rexx smiled again. "You thought that coming here was a trap. Well, it was. The difference is I am not going to kill you." Rexx paused and looked at Lena. "She is…"

Lena began moving forward slowly at Revan, attempting to back him up to the edge of the tower. "_I can't give up on her,_" Revan said to himself. "_Not after all that's happened. Rexx is the critical point._"

Revan force jumped high over Lena with a flip and threw himself at Rexx, but suddenly he was intercepted by another Lena that slammed him down.

"_Doppelgangers…_" Revan cursed as he kicked back to his feet. "_Damn it! I forgot about those…_"

The only advantage now was that Revan could distinguish between the doppelgangers and the real Lena. He blinked, only to see two more coming at him. Rexx was still standing right where he was, eyes focused solely on him.

"_I don't want to hurt her…_" thought Revan, as he dodged another strike from a doppelganger and threw her off the tower. "_But I don't have to hold back on the others._" He switched on _Heart of the Guardian_ and _Mantle of the Force_ with a simultaneous _snap-hiss_ and charged for Rexx again.

Lena tackled Revan to the floor, causing both his lightsabers to roll away. On top of her came three more doppelgangers, piling on. Revan struggled, but Lena had the advantage on him, not to mention the doppelgangers. Easing up on the resistance, Revan telekinetically activated both of his lightsabers again, and sliced up the doppelgangers off of him until only Lena was left on the pile. Though Lena fiercely held her grip, still showing no emotion in her face, Revan began to crawl forward. When Lena took the bait and shifted her weight forward, Revan bucked her off from the rear and threw her off.

Revan rolled up to his feet and went at Rexx again, throwing both of his lightsabers at him but Lena Force swiped one of them away while another fresh doppelganger physically caught the other one. When the doppelganger swung at him with _Heart of the Guardian_, Revan swerved, causing the blade to skim his chest plate. The cortosis weaves in his armor were built specifically to withstand that kind of weapon, and as such did nothing but resist. Revan back-fisted the doppelganger in the face and grabbed his weapon, cutting her in half as he spun around to face Rexx again.

All this time, Rexx had still not moved from his spot, only his face muscles, depending on where Revan was. The general had not a hint of fear in his breath when Revan came at him again. Revan was about to swing, but his Force senses lit up again as he felt _Mantle of the Force_ coming right at him. He blocked it from the rear, but he could not even get a kick at Rexx because Lena was pressing the attack with her own double bladed silver lightsaber.

"_She doesn't make it easy…_" Revan cursed to himself as he blocked a barrage of blows coming from Lena. "_Can't reverse the attack in the middle of it either…she's too good._" Revan waited for Lena to overreach with her thrust and then he kicked her lightsaber away, and then kicked her again in the chest, sending her back. But as he summoned _Mantle of the Force_ back to him and turned around, a doppelganger's fist caught him straight in the jaw, sending him to the floor. That same doppelganger began kicking him the side, but before Revan could shift to brace it, another doppelganger began kicking him in the other side. Revan tried blocking with his elbows as best as he can, but Lena herself came up before his front to deliver a downward stab.

Revan gently Force pushed Lena back, but Lena was prepared for it, so she did not go far. As he was kicked in the sides again simultaneously, Revan intercepted the next kicks with both his hands from both doppelgangers. He twisted their ankles and stabbed them both dead on his way up.

Thus far, Revan was frustrated – to the point that his skin was starting to crawl. The roof of the skyscraper was marred from the battle, and Revan was surviving, but he was still no closer to his objective to get Rexx. Every time it looked like he had a chance, Lena or another doppelganger set would ruin it.

"_She spawns those damn clones like a copy machine…_" he thought. "_Classic Lena fighting style._"

As he blinked again, he noticed six new doppelgangers had him surrounded, Lena herself mixed in with them. They shuffled and scrambled around, possibly hoping to confuse Revan as to which was the real Lena, but it didn't work. He could still tell, and when the real Lena jumped out from the raucous to hit him, Revan blocked the strike with both of his blades and kicked two doppelgangers down on the side. But Lena pressed hard, disallowing Revan from focusing on the others that began to physically wail on him. Like hungry animals, they persisted, and Revan was overwhelmed, once again getting slashed hard on the chest plate by Lena and then bashed in his arms and his back by the others.

Lena was physically superior, as was proven by nearly every arm wrestling, weight lifting, push-up, pull-up, sit-up, and sprint race competition they ever had. Though the doppelgangers were not as strong as Lena, they were still remarkably well fit. Lena knew how to fight and she knew how to take him on – something that even without her conscious mind, she was letting show. Revan took a beating, trying to hold his ground against the doppelgangers, but his saving grace came when Lena blasted lightning his way. Revan caught it and turned it on the doppelgangers, shocking them all to their deaths, and then he turned it against Rexx. But Lena was too quick, dashing from her position to blocking the lightning coming at Rexx with her lightsaber. With her blade slightly empowered from the lightning, she charged at him, no doppelgangers this time. Revan hit against her saber hard, letting Lena throw herself past him. Revan came at Rexx again, roaring as he aimed a swing, but he was suddenly stopped. Rexx was still motionless, doing nothing, but Revan found himself in stasis.

"_Damn it!_" he thought. "_She pulled that same trick in the training…_" Revan physically struggled to break free but Lena walked around him again. Lena's eyes closed and another four doppelgangers had him on the corners. They neared him, and Lena came forward, her weapon ready to destroy him, but Revan closed his eyes and used the Force to plant an aura within himself to break free. The aura worked slowly, keeping him still barely mobile, and it looked like it may not free him in time.

"_The trick that Captain pulled on the train…_" Revan thought as he struggled. "_Perfect time to use it…still can't…break…_"

But Revan felt his left leg again, and without even thinking, he raised it, and then lowered it, stomping the ground hard, creating a shockwave – the same power he learned from the True Sith. The wave stopped Lena and blasted all the doppelgangers off the tower, but Revan gave the floor another hard stomp with his other foot, aiming it at Rexx.

Finally, the True Sith high commander moved from his spot, immediately vaulting off the ground and landing on the other side of the roof. From there he went back to his generic stance, arms crossed, and eyes focused on Revan.

But Revan could hardly feel good about himself because a rock solid fist hit him straight in the gut. He was hit again, and again, his armor absorbing most of the blast, but it still felt like he was getting rocks thrown at him. Lena was relentless, punching and kneeing him in his body and Revan was getting a little disoriented from it. He tried to block and deflect her blows, but it was no use. Lena was pounding him with her fists, her strength supplemented by the Force and she drove Revan almost all the way to the edge.

"_Good time for another trick…_" thought Revan as he took another hit to the side of the face.

Revan blindly swung hard at Lena, expecting her to dodge it, but as she came forward with another strike, Revan swerved around till he was almost behind her. He tapped her on the shoulder and as she turned around, he swiftly delivered a heel palm strike to her jaw, flipping his body over her.

"_Payback for the sparring match…too bad it had to be real._"

Lena fell to the floor and turned around, but Revan did not pursue. "Lena," he said, as he walked around her, getting himself away from the edge. "Listen to me. The conscious mind is not your own. Break free of it, just like you did with the will of the Force! Break free, just like you taught me how! Hearken to me!"

Her expression was still blank and incoherent, but Revan went on. "This isn't you," he said. "This is against everything you and I have stood for and fought against. The True Sith are testing you, just like the Force did! They can still be destroyed, but I can't do it without you!"

A doppelganger came up from behind Revan, but Revan swept her legs, and slammed her head on the floor from upside down.

"I won't give up on you, Lena," he said. "I know you can still be saved". But Revan was still having doubts about this. "_Same words to Bastila…_" he thought. "_But the situation is different…do they compute with her?_"

Another doppelganger delivered a hard kick to Revan's back, knocking him forward towards Lena, and Lena finally flipped back up, stopping Revan's momentum with an even harder kick to his chest. As the doppelganger attacked him again, Revan reactivated _Heart of the Guardian_ and sliced off her hand. He spun around her and stabbed her in the back, but as the doppelganger fell, Revan felt himself blasted backwards by a Force push that came from Lena.

As Revan recovered, two more doppelgangers came at him from the sides, but Revan activated _Mantle of the Force_ as well and caught their attacks simultaneously. As they pressed on hard and he held his ground, Lena came from the front in a blunt charge. Before Revan could react, Lena tackled him, launching him into the air and straight off the edge of the tower The two other doppelgangers as well as General Rexx were still on the tower, but they moved to the edge to see what happened.

Revan fell from the tower with Lena, still reeling from the hit and unsuccessfully trying to break her hold. Only his right hand was free to move, but that hand was now busy trying to latch on to the tower that they were falling from. It scraped countless nooks and possible points, until they passed a large window. Revan smashed the window and grabbed onto the floor, thankful that he was wearing hard gloves. As the floor caught Revan's fall and dangled him over the edge, about halfway down the tower, Lena slipped until she could only hold onto his leg. She gripped it so tight that Revan felt like his leg was being wrapped by a tourniquet. He struggled, twitching his leg to shake her off, bashing her against the wall of the tower again and again until he felt her loosen up. With his hand, he pried Lena's hand off his leg and held it tight. Though Lena was still trying to fight him, Revan flipped her over his head, slamming her on the floor back into the tower.

But Revan did not pull himself up to the same room. Instead, he slid further down, again catching his hand on a solid edge to hold himself. As soon as he was safe enough to fall, Revan vaulted himself off the tower as hard as he could and landed away from it.

Looking up at the top through his visor, General Rexx was still at the top, but the doppelgangers were gone. Revan took a few deep breaths, wondering what his next move was going to be, or if he was just going to let the others make theirs.

"_I should have brought Lena further down. I need to isolate her from Rexx,_" he thought. Yet this wish seemed to come true, for as he looked further down, he saw Lena blast herself off the floor of the middle section and land right next to him. She switched her lightsaber back on, this time activating both silver and white blades with a _snap-hiss_, but Revan seized his opportunity. He used the Force to put her in stasis, making her struggle to free herself just like he had to, only his hold was much too tight for her to do so.

"_She must be tired from all the doppelgangers…_" he thought. "_Not like it's going to matter._" Revan turned his attention back to Rexx, standing half a kilometer above him, still at the top of the tower. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

The molten river drifted south along side of it, almost a full kilometer in width, but the _Ebon Hawk_ was further to the east not far from where he was.

Revan took another deep breath before reaching out with the Force. With all his power, he gripped the tower by its foundations and he began to pull. The Force was in his control again, as he slowly ripped off the base like pulling roots from a tree on Kashyyyk. He pushed and pulled, rattling the tower and crippling the base to make it unstable. As soon as the tower began to move, and Rexx began to stumble while still on top of it, Revan began to bring it down. The metal squealed and rumbled as the tower shook. The glass on the windows were shattered, the anti-lava shields were smashed, causing the bursts of lava from the river to penetrate the outer walls. The floor experienced its own earthquake, and Revan could for about half a second, sense a cold fear emanating from General Rexx.

As he pulled with one hand, he twisted the metal again and again with the other, so to make sure that it would fall into the lava. It was slow at first, but Revan's energy, combined with gravity began to speed up the fall. The creaking and crushing of the metal was getting louder and louder as the tower began to topple over. When Revan ceased his efforts, the building impacted with a smash and a splash, the lava eating away at its metal and causing it to sink into the river.

Revan took another sigh of relief while still holding Lena in the stasis despite her resistance. Little did he know, General Rexx had escaped the tower just in time before it hit the lava by sliding his way down the elevator shaft and bursting out through just over the base, landing on the shore not far from them.

Revan turned to face Lena again. "Are you with me?" he said.

But once again, Lena made no response. She struggled against the stasis hold, but Revan tightened his grip. "What has he done to you?" he continued. "Can't you see? This is far worse than a willing fall to the dark side! He thinks he can play with your mind like it was a toy! Fight it, Lena! _FIGHT IT!_"

"_Oh how rhetoric fails when it seems like it's all you have…_" Revan cursed again.

* * *

_Back in the Mengskin System…_

"Speed report!" yelled Archie Saww.

"Fusion thrusters operating at thirty percent," yelled Rocha. "Anymore and we might overshoot the _Scatterbrain_."

"Slow it down and steer hard to port," replied Archie. "Veggs, you let the port gunners know what's coming. And tell Thaddis to cover the right side, particularly the rear shields – give them a chance to recharge." Archie tossed Veggs his datapad with the vectors he wanted.

The Kraxis Rebel fleet was still pushing to the nebula, returning fire from the pursuing fleets and protecting each other as best as they could. Trek trusted Archie to play the support game so he spent his time in his quarters in constant communication with the other commanders.

"Oden, you've got Sith landing in your docking bay," said Trek to Commander Temple. "Need a hand?"

"Nope, I got gas vents for just that kind of invasion," replied Temple. And he was right. Within minutes, the fighter pilots that had exited their crafts immediately appeared dead on the radar, having suffocated from the nerve gas.

"Commander!" Archie yelled to Trek's comm. nearly shattering his ear. "Sir, you need to see this. Come up here."

"On my way," said Trek as he launched from his chair. Less than a minute later, he was on the bridge. "Report."

"Take a look at this," said Archie. "I barely noticed it out the window, but look at the grid, Sith fleet two on the right."

"What?" said Trek while looking. "They're in perfect formation and they're firing at us."

"The _Pincer_'s fighters did the trick of making the rear ships recall their squadrons back, and the fleet are focusing on two of ours – the _Sonic Boom_ and the _Pincer_."

"And this is good news?"

"Look at their speeds," said Archie. "Look how disproportionate the three front ships are traveling compared to the other three."

Trek looked at the numbers and then he realized what Archie was talking about. The front three ships were almost burning hard to get to the _Pincer_, to try and make an opening, since the _Saber Tooth_ was too heavily armored. Meanwhile, the rear ships noticed the _Sonic Boom_ taking some damage and were slowing down.

"They're going to let the fleet split in two," said Trek, smiling to match Archie. Though the lieutenant commander hadn't said anything yet, Trek knew exactly what he was thinking. "Do it."

In the next few minutes, Trek let the commanders of the other vessels in on what they were doing, making sure to use the discreet channels so the Sith couldn't pick them up. It was a gamble, very similar to the maneuver Canderous Ordo made at the First Battle of Althir, to turn hard against the open and vulnerable center, decimating it and causing the enemy to be in disarray before their destruction. Granted, in this case, this would not guarantee a victory – merely take out one of the three invading fleets, causing the forth to start sending reinforcements, but it might buy the Rebels some time to escape.

With the second Sith fleet, the opening became more and more visible on radar as well as on screen. It was likely that the Sith had no knowledge of it, but it didn't matter. Trek and Archie gave the orders to turn hard to starboard – the flagship and _Pincer_ setting the course. With the big vessels coming closer to each other, the fighter squadrons followed through with their orders to discreetly take out as many heavy guns from the Sith warships as possible. They did the trick but that was nothing compared to the heavy fire the rebels were now dishing out on both sides, blasting the second fleet into oblivion. Their problem was that they were being blasted from the front and rear, while all their shields and armor strength were on the sides. When Trek's fleet had caught them by surprise, they never stood a chance. Sith dreadnought after Sith dreadnought were destroyed and the Sith fighter squadrons still alive retreated to the other two Sith fleets that were coming around to counterattack.

The second attacking Sith fleet was killed to only one surviving ship too damaged to pose a real threat. Trek ignored it as he was sensing the war cries and moral boost of his team. It felt good but it was too much to hope that a victory would come out of this. They still had Jace's energy pulse that they had not released yet and the forth Sith fleet began to send reinforcements, though it would be a while before they caught up. They were still not close enough to the nebula to make the jump.

But there was one other problem. When Trek's fleet diverted its course to destroy the second fleet, the first fleet originally on their port and the third fleet that was following from behind were firing against them hard. To successfully kill the fleet, the rebellion had to break formation, leaving one of their ships in particular trouble. The _Sonic Boom_ had been hit hard by the second fleet and the rest of the attacking Sith could see that it was struggling. The attacking ships in the other two fleets concentrated their fire as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Once again, Archie noticed the problem and ordered a hard reverse burn to try and help it out while the rest of the rebels got back into formation. But Trek's spine began to tremble with the feeling that he might be too late.

As the _Hammer of Judgment_ turned to help fight off the attacking ships, an explosion lit up the screen for a brief moment.

"No…" Trek said, trying to save himself from gasping. Archie immediately began cursing to himself for the first major casualty of the Kraxis Rebellion.

From all the concentrated fire slowly tearing the ship apart, the _Sonic Boom_ was blown to pieces – the newest ship in the fleet that had taken so long to get, the first to be destroyed, hundreds of loyal soldiers dead in a sacrifice that might not even bring them victory. Trek's skin crawled from his frustration.

Trek seemed to have taken it the worst amongst those on the bridge, and any other crew member could see it, but Archie reacted fast, ordering the ship to be turned around again and back into leading position. Time was still on their side, but this was a losing battle by the minute. The rebels began to move again, creeping their way ever so slowly to the nebula.

* * *

Norbus Rexx stormed up the charred hill, getting more and more distant from the river and closer to Revan and Lena. The veins in his neck were throbbing and the rocks unlucky enough to cross his path were immediately disintegrated. As he leapt over the edge and climbed his way up a short cliff, he found them. He was still a good distance away, and Revan was still trying to talk to Lena and remaining unsuccessful despite the stasis grip.

Rexx's patience for this ordeal was getting lower and lower, but before he could proceed, his communicator began to ring.

"Yes?"

"Report," came the Grand Sire's voice.

"Nothing unexpected; Revan will have to give up on her eventually, if Lena doesn't kill him first."

"You have done well, General," replied Zazz. "You are to leave the Phroz System and oversee the final destruction of the Kraxis Rebellion."

Rexx did a double-take, wondering if he heard right.

"You heard me…" demanded Zazz.

"But Sire…" he pleaded.

But Zazz interrupted him. "Cease your concerns, General. Do not forget the purpose of this diversion – it was to let Revan live. If he destroys Lena, he will be too late to save his friends from impending doom. He will become vulnerable and then he will break before us. If Lena destroys him, then we have her empty mind to do our bidding for us all the same. Either way we win and your presence is no longer required."

Rexx sighed. "Yes, Grand Sire. I'll see you after the rebels are ground into the dust." As the communication was cut, Rexx took one last glance at Revan and Lena. Still nothing had changed and Rexx made one final cheap trick before his departure. Reaching out with the Force, Rexx hit Revan with a small blast of lightning, knocking him to the ground and subsequently releasing Lena from the stasis hold. He smirked and walked away, leaving Revan to continue his desperate battle with a former partner and first mate.

* * *

The _Sonic Boom_ would not be the only loss and the Kraxis Rebels knew it, that they could ever talk or even think about it considering the situation. There was never time to celebrate during a battle, the fight goes on and it doesn't stop. The Sith were clogging their movements with reinforcements from their backup forth fleet that were supplementing the rest of the attacking forces with another several hundred guns shelling them. Jace wanted to activate the weapon again but Trek still ordered him not to and to get back to helping out.

The _Hibben Claw_ had moved a bit further up, hugging the rest of the fleet in the middle so to prevent a similar fate as the _Boom_. Its entire docks were empty, all fighter squadrons busy keeping the pressure off the dreadnoughts on both sides.

"Watch yourself," Archie said to Commander Moran of the _Claw_. "You're a little too close to the flag."

"Can't be helped," replied Moran. "My squads got a little ahead."

"Yeah but your boys on the left aren't doing much," said Archie. "Either call them back or shift them north; I'm diverting to assist the _Spear_."

"Copy that," said Moran. "Good hunting."

As soon as Archie dished out his orders to assist the left side, he came to Trek. "Sir, this is not looking good. The _Hammer_ might have taken the least damage amongst all of them but us running back and forth between ships to help them out is taking a lot out of us. Maybe Myrther has a…"

"The fight goes on, Saww," snapped Trek. He had been more or less a man of few words to his crew, letting Archie handle the situation while he monitored the formations and relayed orders to the others. He had never been prepared to face the Sith in a battle like this, so good was he at staying under the radar and using guerrilla ambush tactics. Now the Sith had him at a disadvantage and he needed Revan more than ever.

"_Whatever you're doing,_" he thought. "_Come back alive…_"

* * *

Revan took another hit to the face and then a kick to his sternum, sending him to the ground with a thud. Lena rushed him but Revan kicked her straight over him and rolled back up.

"Come on Lena," he said. "Fight the influence!" The roar of engines echoed overhead and Revan looked up to see General Rexx's ship exiting atmosphere. He grimaced and cursed to himself that blasted Sith leader had got away. "He's not even here anymore! His power cannot hold yours at bay! Come back to me!"

It was still of no use; Lena was an empty shell. Though Rexx was gone his trick against Lena was not a matter of keeping the pressure up. What was done was done – he had made Lena a mindless machine for the Sith. The teacher and loyal friend he knew was gone, that essence replaced by emptiness turning her into a mindless husk. His skin was crawling faster and faster, a reaction from the notion that Lena may very well be a hopeless case. Despite his efforts to fight it, his confidence in her was fading.

As he turned around Lena had switched her double bladed lightsaber back on, piercing the hard ground and cold air as she swung. Revan dodged, switching his sabers on to block them. She had him on the defensive, Form VII – Juyo against his Jar-Kai and Soresu blend he had grown to perfect. Her ferocious attacks could not break his composure, but all he could do was back up and hold out. It seemed pointless because there was no way Lena's mind was suddenly going to come back to her in the middle of a duel, not without Revan's interference.

"_Still no Force Powers…_" Revan thought as he grimaced, putting his strength into a clash. This kind of handicap gave Lena an even bigger advantage, being the better duelist than him just like Malak was. She pushed the hilt in his direction, driving both blades horizontally at him, and Revan was pushing back. Lena pushed harder bringing him down to his knees. She released one hand and grabbed his neck beginning to squeeze. Revan resisted but Lena's grip was unbelievably strong. Not only that but a doppelganger took Lena's lightsaber and aimed a downward blow at his stomach.

As the saber came down, Revan just barely diverted it away, using his own weapon. The blade went into the ground like a nail and before the doppelganger could pull it out, Revan Force pulled her downward crashing her head into the other blade and killing her. But his hold over reality was slowly fading, his consciousness slowly dying away.

Lena grabbed her lightsaber back and struck him in the side. Though his armor absorbed the blow, Revan rolled and rolled away, coughing some blood and gasping to catch his breath. As he landed on his back another doppelganger came at him but Revan swiped off her feet and then her head on his way up. But then a Force push from Lena sent him flying again towards the river almost causing him to drop his lightsabers. Revan fought hard to stop the push, right at the edge of the river. He was on one foot dangling on the edge, bracing with hard intent to stop her.

Lena moved towards him from behind, and spawned another doppelganger at him while still trying to hold him at the edge. When the doppelganger made contact Revan vaulted off the ground and then bounced off the doppelganger sending her into the molten river and securing himself.

"_Too close…_" he thought. But he had not time to formulate a new plan to counter Lena's constant aggression with her barraging him with even more blows. They fought in a dazzling display of skill and flashing beams across the riverside, Revan still backing up and trying to tire her out; it wasn't working.

"Lena, stop!" he yelled in a frantic voice. Just as before, Lena kept attacking. She made no roar of emotion in her swings yet had all the power of her spirit channeled into them.

"_That's it…_" Revan skidded to a halt, blocking another hard clash from Lena and then kicking her backwards. Revan advanced on her as she recovered. "_I'm out of time!_"

Revan turned his defensive form into a fully offensive form but Lena didn't change. The fight turned into a rough boxing match, a slug-fest of two jammers. He was so close to her, stopping her from advancing on him yet she refused to give ground. Revan sunk his stance lower, holding her off and trying to edge forward but Lena still wasn't budging. His arms were getting a little tired and Lena nearly managed to lock his sabers together by accident.

When that moment arrived, Lena back-flipped in the air and kicked him in the face, causing his head to get whipped backwards. But before Revan could recover and hit her back, Lena spun around and struck both his sabers away from him, and then plunged the front blade of her saber into his chest.


	42. Chapter 41: Disposable Heroes

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

Chapter 41  
**

**Disposable Heroes

* * *

**

What was left of the Kraxis Rebel fleet was starting to hurt, their push towards the nebula slowed down by constant flurries of light and heavy fire from the True Sith forces. Trek was doing his best to keep everything together but the loss of morale was still something he was less worried about. Jace began to pester him again.

"Average velocity of our fleet has decreased by approximately fifty knots," said Jace. "That delays our arrival at the nebula by almost an hour. You're running out of options, Trek."

Trek cursed under his breath. Numerous reports of system failure were now coming from the _Jackknife_ and the only reason the _Hibben Claw_ was temporarily safe was because of its recovery position straight up the rear end of the rest of the fleet.

"Sir, I've got a better idea," said Archie. "We still can't risk hard burn but if Myrther activates the pulse we can use that opportunity to destroy the better part of that fleet and still get a bit further. Once we get to the nebula all we'll have to do is hold out against a lesser strength in numbers."

"Further reinforcements by the Sith may be arriving to stop us if we keep delaying like this," said Trek.

"That's a chance we'll have to take," said Archie. "A while back, Revan said something about how it didn't matter how many pursuers you had when you were running from them – all you had to do was kill the ones closest behind you."

"You're still running out of time," said Jace. "The _Hibben Claw_ isn't going to be able to remain safe while up our ass forever. Let me activate it."

Trek cursed again. "Alright," he said and then relayed orders to Knox and Moran to take point and stay clear.

Within minutes the commands were given and Jace triggered the pulse. It worked spectacularly. Every ship within the attack radius was hit by it and the bridge crews reported them completely limp.

Every last fighter craft in reserve was launched and the rebel fleet shifted to the port – specifically targeting the fleet on the left that was hitting them the hardest. The flagship and the _Pincer_ came about almost full and killed three Sith dreadnoughts together while the others assisted fire but continued moving forward. The tint on the bridge had to be further darkened to keep the massive explosions from blinding the crew. But no cries of victory were shouted. This was not going to end well and the rebels were merely buying some more time to make it out.

There were two other Sith dreadnoughts in the second fleet that had taken almost the same beating as _Hibben Claw_ and _Jackknife_. With the rebels moving again after destroying a total of six Sith dreadnoughts, thanks to Jace's virus, Archie gave orders to cool off the main engines a bit by hitting them with ion blasts instead to disable them and prevent them from following. Trek wanted to counterman that order but he grudgingly knew that it was for the best because the fleet was moving again and catching up to the _Claw_ and _Jackknife_ that were still ahead.

But their luck was run out short because contrary to Jace's predictions that it would take close to half an hour for the Sith ships to come to, it had only been ten minutes and a few of the Sith dreadnoughts were already beginning to come back online.

"Hit them again Myrther," said Trek.

"No can do," said Jace. "Their anti-virus firewalls recognized the pulse's coding and adapted. That was a onetime deal."

"_Damn it!_" Trek yelled.

But the rebel fleet was getting closer. The Sith were once again burning hard to catch up and though they would catch up very quickly, the entire attacking force had now been cut to half strength. They still had the number and power advantage over the rebels and judging by their formation it was unlikely that they were going to resort to the same narrow hallway crossfire tactic they had been using before. They were going to come straight from behind and wedge themselves in the middle to break the formation and take the ships out one by one.

"This is going to be real tight," said Archie. "We're almost at the nebula but getting through is another challenge."

"_Where the hell is Revan!_" Jace thought. He knew that everyone else was thinking the same thing but his tactics were needed now more than ever. Archie and Trek were doing the best they could with what they had but Jace knew that Revan could do better.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Revan's momentum stopped when he felt Lena's lightsaber blade penetrate his chest. He gasped and struggled for breath and desperately tried to keep his eyes open. Lena was pushing and pushing with all of her strength, his armor was absorbing and holding off from the blow but the sheer force of her physical dominance had penetrated it and was making a small hole in his central rib cage. Revan flexed and cringed, trying not to let the blade get any deeper but Lena was relentless.

"_Damn it!_" he cursed. "_Damn it all!_" Lena was killing him, yet she showed no remorse. "_She's going to make me kill her…_"

The wound was getting bigger, and Revan could feel some blood getting cauterized from the wound, making the pain even worse. He grimaced further and with all his energy blasted Lena off him. His body wanted to collapse from the wound; he was strong but hardly strong enough for this. His body wanted to give up, and it was telling him that it wanted to give up.

But Revan did not listen – his mind was too strong for that. Before Lena could recover, Revan was already on her. He roared as he Force threw a molten rock at her chest and kicked her in the same target just after she dodged it.

"_I don't have a choice anymore!_" But Lena's body was reacting to Revan's new aggressive strategy. She began sprinting, away from the riverside and towards a wide complex under construction. Revan chased after her, and Lena began climbing.

The building under construction was wider than it was tall and it was barely holding itself together. Three separate cranes operated by droids were working on it, but what was there already was an open exoskeleton kind of structure. Lena climbed on one of the support beams, but Revan began splicing it with his sabers. He struck and struck again, bringing the beam lower and lower, but Lena escaped to the top just in time. The narrow beam Lena stood on was sliced with her own lightsaber and it began to fall on top of Revan. He dived and rolled out of the way just in time and Lena was now even farther above him.

Revan vaulted off the ground as high as he could and began climbing and jumping to try and catch up with her. Lena smashed a few more beams down on him, but he successfully dodged them on his way up. When Lena reached the top, she sprinted over the more complete roof and latched herself onto one of the cranes. The metal blocks the crane was holding onto, Lena loosened off and began throwing them at Revan with the Force. But Revan used the Force to catch one of them, block the rest, and then throw it back. Lena sprung from the crane as it was hit and destroyed and she let herself be thrown onto another one.

The final crane was much lower than the others, and Revan dropped himself onto it. With the Force, he let the crane bring him up rapidly, on a collision course with Lena. As he was about to pass her he aimed a hard swing, but Lena blocked it. His crane smashed into the crane Lena was on, and Revan was thrown from it, Lena still struggling to hold onto hers. As Revan came down, he landed on the same crane Lena was on and cut it. It began to fall, crashing its way down to the roof of the building, leaving barely a few horizontal support beams. Lena was thrown from it and landed hard on her chest on the beam while Revan vaulted off and landed on the same one further away.

"_Sorry Lena…_" Revan said to her through the Force as he dashed to engage. Lena stood up and switched her lightsaber back on, but Revan already had both of his out. As he came closer he spun himself rapidly like a sharp tornado. He swung and he swung, his blows constantly intercepted by Lena's blade but he persisted. He drove her to the edge and when Lena predictably struck back, Revan caught the blade and thrusted his knee straight through the hilt, snapping it in half. Revan contoured down both her arms with his blades and sliced Lena's lightsaber again, effectively destroying it.

Lena jumped over him, dodging another set of blows he aimed at him. Lightning spawned from her fingertips and she blasted a wave of it at him, but Revan caught it with his left hand and then blasted her with a set of his own. Lena seized up and dropped to her knees, at which Revan tackled her.

"_This is going to hurt…_" He punched her and then delivered a hard Force push, smashing the support beam they were on and causing them to fall. Support beam after support beam were destroyed as they crashed through them, until they finally hit the ground with Revan still on top of her.

Before Lena could recover, Revan grabbed her, head-butted her and threw her against the wall of the tower, and with a final effort of all his remaining strength he launched himself at her with a savage roar and plunged both _Heart of the Guardian_ and _Mantle of the Force_ into her body.

That was it – the fight was over. Revan could feel the thumping of his heart, the pulsing in his muscles, the normal flow of lava in the river slowed by the adrenaline. But as he took an easy breath, he felt the pain in his chest again.

He collapsed to the ground next to Lena, trying not to howl from the searing pain from where Lena stabbed him. He used the Force to try and mend the wound and though it wasn't fatal, his healing seemed to do little except stop the bleeding and slightly close the hole.

But all of a sudden he saw a flash. A blue aura appeared around Lena's body; she was still alive and with both of Revan's lightsabers still in her chest. Revan could finally sense her presence right in front of him again.

"Lena!" he gasped as he pulled the lightsabers out of her chest and caught her slump. "_Lena!_" he yelled again, nearly in tears.

Lena began gasping for breath and for help. She let out a terrified scream, for she could feel everything now – the pain from all the blows and wounds Revan dealt her, the pain from all the torture the Sith put her through _again_, the loss of herself when the Sith suppressed her mind, and she could hear all the words and attempts that Revan made to try and save her. All of it came to when her mind returned to her dying body.

"Revan!" she whimpered while hanging limp in Revan's arms. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright!" Revan said trying to quiet her, but Lena persisted and repeated her words.

"I've betrayed you! I nearly killed you…I couldn't stop the True Sith from getting to me. I was weak, and they used it to my advantage! Revan please forgive me!"

"Shhh…" Revan said softly as he held her. "I'm here now…and you're free. I'm going to get you out of here." He began to lift her up, but Lena squealed again. The holes that Revan's lightsabers had made in her chest were fatal – one had pierced her gut and the other had pierced her breastplate right under her heart. The blades had also created a pair of exit wounds that damaged her spine.

"No," said Lena. "Just get yourself out of here. Get back to your allies…save them."

"To _hell_ with that!" Revan yelled. "I'm not leaving you here to die!"

Lena sighed and tilted her head back. "I'm already dead…" she said softly. "You had no choice and I don't blame you for doing what you had to do. Now go…"

"Lena, I can't leave you. I need you!"

"Revan, you are more important than I have or ever will be."

"Don't say that," interrupted Revan. "I couldn't have done any of this without you. I'm sorry I gave up on you before, I just…"

"Stop," said Lena. "I'm the one who needs to apologize. I betrayed you."

"You were under their control," said Revan.

"But it's more than that," said Lena. "I lied to you long ago, and I kept my feelings from you. I'm not going to get another chance to confess like this so please." She took a breath.

"Vengeance," she said, still feeling a loss of breath. "The real reason I fought so hard to get you on my side, to get you to come with me to this place and fight them. I didn't just want peace – I wanted revenge against the True Sith for what they did to me – for all the torture they put me through. I used you. As I die here I can no longer hide this from you. Please forgive me."

"Water under the bridge," said Revan with a tear in his eye. "Now let's go. I can still save you."

"You already have," said Lena, stopping him from picking her up again. "By killing me here, you've freed me from their control and you stopped me from doing what my willing mind would never do. Revan, please just listen." She coughed up a bit of blood and wiped the tear from Revan's eye.

"Revan, you're going to be angry from this. I can feel it in you already. Do not despair. Do not let your failures with the Force cause a lapse in your judgment. Your ability to fix your own mistakes and rise again is one of your greatest strengths. If you let your anger take control of you, you will revisit your days as a Sith Lord, and you will bring yourself right into the enemy's lap, more a slave to them than I was. That's what they are betting on but I believe in you. Please…promise me now, Revan. Promise me that you will not make the same mistakes I did. Promise me that you will not give up on your friends, and you will not give up on yourself no matter what!"

Revan nodded, more tears rolling down his cheeks. "Yes," he said. "I promise…"

"Now let the Force take me," said Lena. "Find someone to pass on your knowledge and do what you do best."

"Lena please," said Revan. "There's got to be another way. You're the teacher not me."

Lena smiled. "Revan," she lightly stroked his face and wiped another set of tears away. "I'm dying – and it's okay. I've accepted it. Now you must accept it as well." Lena clutched his hand as she took her final few breaths. "Remember, the Force will be with you…always."

Revan leaned over and kissed Lena on the brow as her life began to expire. There was nothing he could do for her. Lena died, her body disappearing almost immediately, leaving only her tattered dark clothing in his arms. Revan sunk his head into them, burying his tears to an audience of none.

Lena was right – a fact that was tearing through his skin like the wound in his ribs. Revan was more than flustered. He wanted to kill them all but not before making them experience a maelstrom of pain. He wanted to make them choke on their own tongues while he ripped their teeth out one by one. His blood was boiling with frustration and he no longer cared about the wound in his ribs or the scars and bruises that were all over his body and face. Lena had dealt him a bigger beating than Malak had but the true pain was emotional.

He had made Lena a promise but just for a moment he wanted nothing to do with that. Just for a tiny moment he wanted to forget his commitment – forget about Trek and the Kraxis Rebels he had grown fond of in the last six months and their state of trouble. What did they matter to him anyway? They were all dead just like Lena and just like his mission. The Grand Sire beat him at his own game and he didn't even know it. To hell with trying to minimize the damage!

"_They'll pay…they'll all pay!_"

* * *

Archie's predictions turned out to be right on the money. Three of the enemy dreadnoughts that had the strongest armor and shields were now in the front and pressing hard. The rest of the Sith were spreading out and obscurely targeting the retreating rebel fighters before advancing further and locking their guns onto the _Vendetta_. Most of the _Vendetta_'s fighter squadrons were destroyed, but Commander Temple used their advantage in fuel reserves and burned hard to evade them. The _Vendetta_ was the only ship in the fleet aside from the flagship that could do that because it had more fuel than the rest.

The _Jackknife_ and _Hibben Claw_ were lagging further behind again now that the rest of the fleet had caught up and the _Saber Tooth_ could not take as many hits for them as Commander Madds had hoped because the Sith were too crafty in their maneuvering.

"Commander, we're not going to make it!" yelled Commander Moran on the _Claw_. "We've taken a beating!"

"Get out of there," said Trek. "I'll have Madds proceed to intercept your escape pods." Moran did as he was told and ordered all survivors on board the _Claw_ to evacuate. By the time the escape pods started launching, the bridge exploded. From there came an explosion to the aft deflector shield generator and then a bigger explosion that consumed the whole ship. Most of them didn't make it including Commander Moran, but the few pods that were launched were intercepted by the _Saber Tooth_ just as was ordered. One particularly unlucky escape pod miraculously blasted its way through the entire Sith attacking forces and landed back on the planet Mengskin. However when the five survivors climbed out of the pod, they found themselves having crashed in the middle of the Sith Academy with every student grimacing at them with an evil and hungry look in their eyes.

Trek averted his eyes from the exploding bridge that led to the inferno that was once the _Hibben Claw_, his neck vein throbbing from the sight of having to witness another large group of his rebels die. Despite his image as the cold fearless brutal and merciless leader that the rebels both loved and feared him for, Trek had made himself feel for every last member of his rebellion. They were his family, his life he had sweated and bled so much to create again since he lost his old one. "Keep it moving!" yelled Trek, shaking off the tear that was slowly building up in his eye. "We're almost there!"

With only six ships remaining, the rebels were no more than twenty thousand kilometers away from the nebula. Their angle of approach shifted slightly to zero in on the point of entry into the nebula Jace had identified but by now the Sith had made a full recovery. What was good was that it had been easily enough time for reinforcements by the Sith to arrive but none came. The odds were still pitted against them and the fifteen dreadnoughts heading their way were strong and pissing away their overabundance of fuel from their afterburners to try and cut them off. The Sith still had no idea what Trek was still trying to accomplish by getting himself cornered into the Psytosis Nebula but they cared not for it. If he was going towards it, they were going to do whatever they could to cut him off.

Despite maneuvers and some partial hands-on piloting by Commander Knox, the _Jackknife_ began to shake and tremble from a new hull breach when one of the dreadnoughts slid its way to the point of tangency and hit the starboard side like a boat hitting an iceberg. Most of the engine crew on that side were killed almost instantly from the first impact and those lucky enough to survive had their lives prolonged for only a few minutes when another dreadnought scraped that same side and caused an even greater hull breach. From an offensive swarm of over a hundred Sith snub starfighters, the starboard engines were destroyed and the _Jackknife_ met a brutal and gruesome end before the _Hammer of Judgment_ or the _Vendetta_ could save it.

Now the Kraxis Rebellion was reduced to only five and the two Sith dreadnoughts that had forced their way into the hulls had taken barely any damage from it. It was getting harder and harder for Trek to keep his composure now that almost half of his rebellion was dead in the same damn battle.

Archie on the other hand was feeling even worse. Archie was Trek's most loyal soldier and one of the biggest reasons the rebellion became so strong. Not being able to save three of his fellow board members all of which were his friends was making him start to lose face too.

Being a leader required patience and composure beyond normal human limits, but the rules and requirements always became a blur when lives were on the line. There was nothing Archie could do to mollify his boss but stay professional and keep his own composure. There was a torrent of profanity coming from Rocha and some others on the same bridge but Archie shut them up fast.

It seemed that the only good thing the rebels had going for them was the exceptional performance of the fighter squadrons from the _Pincer_ and _Spear Tip_. Though their job was to keep the pressure off the ships, they were able to do that and more. They were able to destroy three separate deflector shields of one separate dreadnought that was nearing its way straight up the _Pincer's_ ass and with the help of the _Spear Tip_ their lasers that targeted the front did their trick. The frontal third of the Sith dreadnought was destroyed, leaving the rest of it to rot without life support. Those fighter squadrons had the highest morale in the entire rebellion and the contrast between them and everyone else was rather jarring especially amongst the high command – some of which experienced some shivers in their sleeves due to a legitimate fear of death.

Trek raced to his office when a crew member told him that Jono was contacting him. "Talk to me."

"Sir, with all due respect this isn't working." Jono spoke in his usual blunt and uncharismatic manner.

"How's the _Spear_?"

"She's holding like the rest but that's not my worry. Our formation is broken and even if the Sith don't figure out the escape route that doesn't mean they won't ion us into paralysis."

"I'm not worried about getting to the nebula; we're pretty much there already. What do you suggest?"

"My biggest worry is that even if we can get through it we'll still have to do it one at a time. Somehow I doubt we're all going to make it."

Trek thought for a moment, trying not to think about how he should have realized this earlier as his next challenge. "We make it to the nebula…hugging phalanx formation should allow us to calculate the route at the same time." Jono agreed but that did not ease his concerns. The phalanx was a great defensive formation but only when the enemy was forced into a bottleneck and even though it would allow the weakest ships to be protected, it also hindered offensive abilities – more or less the point of it.

"We've got one last play," said Trek. "Let's not give the Sith a reason to ion us. We take up the phalanx and thin their numbers. If we're lucky they'll slow down their barrage and try to board. Hold out until we can make the jump one right after another." It was a grim plan that had no real reason to work but he always knew that the Sith wanted him alive so they could subject him to a worse punishment than death. Perhaps he could convince them that it was still possible.

However, just as Trek made it back to the bridge to let Archie know the plan the ship began to violently shake. Sparks flew and burned into the ground and walls from consoles bursting. Two crew members were blasted backwards and knocked out. The same thing almost happened to another but Garrisson threw himself at him and tackled him to safety. Another console burst and Archie began swearing again. Trek knew exactly what had happened. The _Hammer of Judgment_ had just been hit by four separate high powered ion blasts and was slowing down. His skin began to crawl again as they were barely a hair away from where they had to be to make the jump but now would not have a chance until systems came back online.

Thankfully their communications were still active and they received simultaneous reports from the _Vendetta_, _Spear Tip_, and _Pincer_ of the same thing happening to them. From all the scrambling that had happened since the _Jackknife_ was destroyed and formation was broken, there was hardly a phalanx formation in place but the ships were still very tight. The only ship that had not been hit was the _Saber Tooth_ and that was because they saw it coming and were able to evade it. But now that the other four ships were disabled the Sith had that abnormally fortified colossus of a ship as their new target. As the rest of the Kraxis Rebellion struggled to regain control of their primary and secondary systems and find enough power to move the space equivalent of an inch forward, the _Saber Tooth_ was getting barraged by nearly every ship. The swarms of Sith fighters kept the _Tooth's_ guns occupied despite Madds' orders to focus the heavy firepower on the dreadnoughts.

"_Help me out here, Myrther…_" ordered Trek through the Force, wondering what the hell he and the rest of Revan's crew were doing. Yuthura had been in the engine room trying to restore electronic signals to the computers and Jace was busy recalibrating the computers to connect with the engines again and get them online. This was one of those moments where Jace actually did _not_ have a preexisting solution for and coming up with one was taking forever. It was almost like trying to jump-start an engine with wooden plugs.

Archie ordered another big group of fighter squadrons launched to help the _Tooth_ but by the time they were able to help it out it didn't matter anymore because the Sith dreadnoughts stopped firing at it and began to launch boarding craft. While the fighter squadrons were able to kill most of them, they were intercepted by the escorts and were unable to prevent the second wave of boarding craft from invading the _Tooth_.

Before adequate defense measures could be taken, seven platoons of True Sith and human commandos were tearing their way through the ship, killing everyone and sabotaging the ship. Commander Madds knew that he would not be able to save the ship for they would get to the bridge in a matter of minutes. He immediately patched himself through to the bridge of the flagship.

"Sorry Trek," he said. "No way out of this one."

"Hang in there Charl, I've got support craft on the way," said Archie in his most professionally urgent voice.

But Madds shook his head. "No regrets," he said. "Get ready for a bang." Madds cut communication before Archie or Trek could say anymore. What they also didn't know was that Madds had already programmed the maneuvering vectors with the help of those on the bridge. They all knew the truth. The Sith had shattered their guns, destroyed their remaining fighters, and had killed nearly everyone including survivors from the _Hibben Claw_. For a ship of common soldiers there was no way out of this one.

The door to the bridge was blown open and in came three True Sith warriors. Within seconds, the final crew was killed up to Madds. The Sith Captain grabbed Madds by the lapel and hoisted him into the air. "Nice ship," he said with a grin. "I think I'll take it."

"Think twice," replied Madds before he closed his eyes for the last time.

The Sith looked out the window of the bridge and he felt his eyes widen. One of their own dreadnoughts was getting closer and closer and there was no slowing down.

Before the Sith could stop it, the _Saber Tooth_ in all its heavy and sturdy overkill armor crashed its way straight through the Sith dreadnought and tore it to pieces, causing a massive explosion that the _Tooth_ plowed straight through. Multiple hull breaches in the bottom and sides of the ship were filled with the cold empty vacuum of space but it wasn't enough to stop it from finishing its final act. Madds was dead but the Sith on the bridge and elsewhere on the ship were mostly still alive. One Sith smugly grinned to another as they thought they were dead for sure, but the grin came to a halt when they felt the impact of the _Saber Tooth_ crashing its way straight into another Sith warship.

Two gigantic explosions lit up the screens of every single ship in the space battle from the death of another Sith dreadnought as well as the death of the _Saber Tooth_. Nearby Sith and rebel fighters were incinerated almost immediately and some Sith dreadnoughts were hit with big flying metal pieces from the destruction.

The True Sith were tormenting Trek. General Rexx was doing more than just rubbing in his victory – he was making him suffer by killing his rebellion one piece at a time in front of him and stopping him from doing anything about it. Excruciating pain on the mental and emotional level and it was becoming more and more impossible to internally re-present himself. His heart was breaking and all he could feel was a thirst for blood. He wanted the Sith to board him – he wanted them to attack him with every last minion they had so he could eviscerate them and make them eat their innards again and again. His whole rebellion had been about making the Sith experience the pain he felt when he lost his family; now the Sith were doing the same thing to him.

But suddenly he heard the engines of the _Hammer_ begin to roar again. "Primary systems back online!" exclaimed Archie. "I think Myrther did it." The few remaining consoles on the bridge were just enough to get the job done with some tweaking. Unfortunately, the flagship was the only ship that could recover. The _Vendetta_, the _Pincer_, and the _Spear Tip_ were still disabled and unable to move or fire back. The Sith had them surrounded almost entirely and were beginning to press the attack. However given the positions of the disabled vessels as well as what the Sith knew about them, they were temporarily leaving the _Vendetta_ alone. The _Vendetta_ was the first ship Trek had ever secured in his rebellion and no doubt something he felt was worth protecting.

Commanders Rainer and Jono had always been partners partially for the reason that they were brothers in law and had known each other for a long time. Rainer's wife Marill was one of Jono's two older sisters and served as a flight crew on the _Spear Tip_ with Jono. The two commanders and their maneuvering patterns demonstrated their commitment to watching each other's backs. Through this entire debacle the _Spear Tip_ and the _Pincer_ were the least unscathed of all the ships until now and the degree at which they could protect each other was diminishing.

After what had happened with the _Saber Tooth_, the Sith didn't even bother trying to board the _Spear Tip_ and _Pincer_. Better to kill them both and then maybe take the _Vendetta_ and finally the _Hammer_. That was precisely what the Sith were starting to do. They mercilessly bombarded the _Pincer_ and _Spear Tip_ with all their firepower while they remained crippled and unable to fire back. And when ten ships were firing upon two, it didn't matter whether or not they could fire back; they were going down. The _Vendetta_ luckily got its systems back online and began moving forward as a way of beckoning Trek to do the same.

Before one of the crew members could even tell him, both Rainer and Jono came on the screen on the bridge of the _Hammer of Judgment_. "Sir, we're not going to make it," said Rainer. "Call off your support crafts before you lose more of them."

"No!" yelled Trek. "I'm not losing another ship! We're coming around."

"With respect sir, no you won't;" said Jono. "You've done enough and we're holding for now. We'll buy you the time. Make the jump!"

Trek didn't know what to think. He didn't know if he could bear witness to another mass killing in his rebellion and he cursed the fact that they were right. Just like Madds they were going to sacrifice themselves for the rebellion but another question piqued in the realm of that thought – what rebellion? Half of it was destroyed and even if they survived their effectiveness would have been severely hindered. Then there was also the possibility that he might not be able to save them but could he just give up? It was never easy to be in the position he was in, this was something even Archie couldn't comment on.

"I…no…" Trek couldn't keep his cool and hardened composure anymore. He turned away from the screens.

"Too late sir, Rainer and I are dispatching our escape pods and they're headed your way. Marill is on one of them. Please make sure she is safe."

"Damn it men! I'm giving you both an order! Do not stand down! Sit tight! Our systems are back up and we're coming to help you!"

"Sorry sir," said Jono. "We can't obey that order. Get the hell out of there!"

Trek's fists were now clenched to the point where his short nails were digging into his palms. His jaw was tightened and he was still partially looking away trying to make it look like he was busy. Jono cut transmission with a final exchange of salutes and respectful nods to Archie but Rainer could sense Trek's extreme tensions.

"Amicus," said Rainer softly. "It's alright, just like Madds – pros to the end. We can die like this; just do what you can for Marill. She doesn't deserve a death like mine."

Rainer gave a salute to Trek and Trek painfully responded in kind with a nod before the transmission was cut for the final time.

Trek had always looked somewhat fondly over Rainer and Jono. They were both older than him and sometimes infinitely wiser. Trek would have considered much of the exploits of his rebellion a pipe dream if it weren't for them and their abilities to get results at all costs. Even though they were initially hired by Trek to help him build strength to the rebellion that was now coming apart, they had become loyal to him over the years and he would have killed for them just as they would have killed for each other. What little comfort he could ever possibly attain was rested in the fact that both Rainer and Jono had accepted their deaths. But that could still never help Trek prepare himself for it.

From the constant volleys upon volleys of low and high thermal blasts from the Sith that burned through their shields and chewed away at the hulls of the _Pincer_ and _Spear Tip_, happening nonstop like a salvo from a firing squad to a hundred victims one by one, the ships could not take it anymore. The screens of the _Hammer _were lit up again when the two ships exploded simultaneously, their honorable captains sent to their deaths, but not before they had the chance to bid a tearful farewell to each other by the bonds of eternal friendship.

Trek buried his face again but the battle was not over. At this point it was now less of a battle and more of an onslaught but he was still required to be alert and active as the leader. "Most of those escape pods didn't make it sir," said Archie. "But Marill did. She's being treated for multiple electronic burns but they think she'll make it."

"Assuming we make it. What's our status?"

"We're there…both ships," said Archie. "We are beginning calculations now. All we have to do is not get killed before then. This is good news."

"None of this is good news," said Trek solemnly. "It's just less bad news…"

"Still, we…" Archie was interrupted when another flurry of ion blasts hit the _Hammer of Judgment_, once again crippling all electronics for a short time and disabling it. "Oh come on! That is just not fair!"

By this time, the Sith fleet had the two remaining ships in the Kraxis Rebel fleet surrounded again and were firing on the _Vendetta_. That ship was holding, for in the time the Sith were destroying the _Pincer_ and _Spear Tip_, the _Vendetta_ had not only successfully restored power and calibration to their primary and secondary systems but had also their weapon systems back online. The ship was fighting back but the _Hammer of Judgment_ could offer no aid whatsoever except launch fighter squadrons which would do no good.

Only the _Hammer_ was hit with the ion blast. At the rate at which every Sith ship was targeting the _Vendetta_, all the crew of the flagship could do was sit and watch as the Kraxis Rebellion was reduced to one ship. Commander Temple did not even try to make contact for he was too busy trying to survive. Unfortunately his efforts did not last long. The newly restored shields were brought down in a matter of minutes and though the guns of the _Vendetta_ did manage to heavily cripple one more Sith vessel out of the ten that were there, it was a sheep to the slaughter. Thermal lasers ravaged its metal surface again and again and unless Trek could interfere by communication, the _Vendetta_ was doomed.

Communication was finally established after having to go through multiple hoops which irritated Archie to no end, having no time to meander around.

"Trek," said Rexx. "I didn't expect to hear from you."

"General Rexx," said Trek with his usual ungracious bow. "I'm calling to ask you to cease your attack on the _Vendetta_ and my ship."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you want me," said Trek. "You've disabled my ship and launching escape pods would be suicide. You've got me right where you want me, so come and get me."

Rexx laughed. "I think I'll just do that anyway." He continued laughing even as the Vendetta started to go critical.

"Trek!" yelled Commander Temple. "All systems are critical! We're not…!" the frantic voice was cut off as the screen turned to an urban fog and the windows lit up once more with one final explosion that sent the final secondary capital ship of the Kraxis Rebellion into oblivion.

"_No!_" yelled both Trek and Archie at the same time.

But Rexx continued laughing, almost kicking his legs through the air. "This is just too much fun! Here you are dangling by a thread hoping you can buy enough time for Revan to come and save you." Trek was steaming and Rexx was getting bored of the reaction so he made his closing statements. "And by the way – Revan is dead."

Before Trek could react, another voice came on the same channel. "Not yet!"

The _Ebon Hawk_ skidded its way out of hyperspace and soared its way towards the rest of the fleet. T3-M4 was at the helm while Revan was on the bottom gun. The angry and hardened ex-Jedi warrior was still bleeding and battered just as before and as the ship passed over the bridge of the ship General Rexx was on, they made eye contact.

From a series of warbled noises from T3-M4, Revan was notified that because the ship Rexx was on was distant from the rest of the fray, they had significantly reduced their frontal deflector shields to save power. Revan grabbed the control sticks again to seize advantage of the opportunity. With his fingers squeezing the triggers he opened fire, pumping thermal rounds after thermal rounds straight for the hard glass on the bridge. Before the shields could come online to stop them, one window pane was shattered. Revan continued blasting his way through it, hitting the automatic terminals to stop the metal shield from sealing off the bridge. The entire crew was sucked out into space and reduced to cold lifeless and asphyxiated corpses, all with the exception of General Rexx. The begrudged Sith high commander merely stood there on the bridge, his hand clutching a hard metal pole but he was acting like he didn't even need it. The ship he was on was finished but Rexx continued to stare Revan down until the _Ebon Hawk_ left it to join the battle.

"He'll kill you for that," said Trek.

"Patch me through to my crew," said Revan as he saw the ship pass over another pair of Sith dreadnoughts. Revan locked onto three Sith fighters in formation and targeted the leader. As his droid guided the ship through a small opening between two ships, Revan blasted at the leader. That ship was destroyed and when the other two fighters tried to veer off, they crashed themselves into the dreadnoughts. Normally those pilots would never have been that unbelievably stupid but Revan was using every Force trick he had to survive. When it was clear that the signal was through he spoke. "Yuthura?"

"Close," came that snarky male voice he recognized as Jace.

"Where's my crew?"

"Busy." But before Revan could yell at him the boy continued and filled him in on the situation while Revan continued to unleash hell on every Sith fighter he could while T3-M4 guided the _Ebon Hawk_ towards the disabled flagship. "Oh yeah," said Jace. "And we've been boarded."

"Sounds like a fun party; give me the coordinates for the nebula opening and open up port docking bay number two. I've got an idea."

Despite all the preparations Trek's crew had made against the landing parties, their forces were cut down almost immediately as hordes of Sith and human soldiers began storming the ship. Trek's squads had fanned out, holding off crucial points and sealing off the engine room. Trek had also recalled the rest of Revan's crew including Dustil to the bridge and Dustil had been carried by Jace and Cassandra on his stretcher. Most of the booby traps Trek had laid out did little to slow the Sith down and the attack was more concentrated than expected. The Sith did not waste their time trying to take the engine rooms and establish control as if it were some kind of island hopping campaign. Instead they tore through every crewmember, every wardroid, and every mine-filled hallway they found on the way to the bridge.

Before the door to the bridge could be blasted open, Trek opened it and stood straight in their path. Opening up the blade of his lightsaber with a _snap-hiss_, he began to slash through them while the separate teams hustled to the bridge to provide backup. But the first wave had done its job – soften up the defenses for an even bigger landing party to finish them off. Their goal was simple – take Amicus Trek alive, kill the others. When the first wave was reduced to one final standing True Sith, Trek grabbed that helpless warrior and dragged him to the middle. With his fingers, he applied pressure to a nerve point just a bit to the center of the Sith's long and curved spine, causing brief immobilization but assuring that the Sith would fall forward given the slight 60-40 unbalance of weight.

Trek smiled at the Sith that was shaking just a bit while trying to overcome that paralysis and then he planted a small landmine right in front of him before walking away. As Trek was dishing out more orders left and right to fully seal the doors and have the backup squads establish cover in the area before to bottleneck them, the Sith eventually fell forward onto the mine and was blown to pieces. The bomb they were going to use to blow the bridge doors open was tied to a door far away that must be entered before getting to the bridge to explode on opening. By that point, the next massive wave of three full platoons of True Sith with no human backup had latched on and was beginning to swarm the ship.

"Rebels!" yelled Trek. "This may be our last act as a rebellion against the Sith! There is nothing the Sith can do to you that is worse than what you have already experienced. Fight hard, and if you must die, you take as many as you can down with you!"

"Stow that defeatist talk," said Revan to Trek though his mike. "I'm almost there, just keep them at bay." Revan shielded his eyes from a shot that was deflected off the _Ebon Hawk_'s shields and then blasted that attacking fighter to pieces. If HK-47 was competing with him this would have gone much better but the Sith fighters were getting more and more hesitant to get in his way. Looking to his left he saw another squad of fighters leaving a small docking bay one by one. He turned his gun at them and held the trigger. Most of the fighters coming out in a straight line were destroyed one after another. He might have grinned to himself but suddenly his stomach lurched forward when the _Ebon Hawk_ was hit by a large chunk of metal. Of course his ship was not invincible but it was outlasting some serious punishment.

Then series of beeps and chirps from T3-M4 told him that told him he was about to land. The droid implied for him to get ready to leave but Revan stayed put. He turned his gun around to the front of the ship and began spraying smaller concentrated thermal shots in the room in case there were any Sith waiting to ambush him. There were none, but as T3-M4 touched the ship down the Sith began pouring in. Revan was ready – just like with the fighters before he began tearing through any and all cover blocking the hallway and was burning through the Sith that were entering. It was at least half a platoon of them but against the thermal shots that had enough power to ravage their skin from their flesh they were helpless. Revan kept at it, going overkill on them just like Dustil had on Tryton V pumping rounds even into the corpses to make sure they were dead. One Sith managed to duck past the fire and take cover. He threw a large box at him but Revan used the Force to stop it and slash it to the side. Before the Sith could do any more Revan used the Force to pull him forward until his mouth was literally over the barrel of the large turret he was still operating. Revan again resisted the urge to smile as he squeezed the trigger.

"Revan where are you!" yelled Trek. The Sith had not breached the bridge yet but the squads before the door were not going to be able to hold them off for long. Revan jumped out of his turret and charged his way out of the _Ebon Hawk_ ordering the droid to keep the engines primed and the hanger bay door working.

Before half of the Sith in the _Hammer of Judgment_ could blink Revan was on them. His anger and his concentration on completing this mission filled his head with countless strategies and methods to bulldoze his way through them all. He took himself the long way, knowing that more Sith were making themselves comfortable and needed to be removed. The Sith, despite their ability to put up a hard fight against him, could not handle his methods of ferocity that topped their own. Revan was never on the defensive, constantly pushing forward and not giving the enemy any chance to slow him down.

Revan yelled as he stopped merely to dodge a series of incoming fire before the bridge. "Tell your men to cease fire! It's me!" Within seconds, the firing stopped.

"Behind you!" yelled Archie. Revan turned to find the final squad of True Sith staring him down. Revan took a breath as one of them came at him. Revan unleashed a roar of the spirit from his gut as he lunged at the Sith and plunged both _Heart of the Guardian_ and _Mantle of the Force_ into his belly. The Sith was far from dead but before it could do anything Revan channeled lightning through his fingertips that were still tightly gripping the hilts of his sabers. The dark blue lightning went through the lightsabers and shocked and electrocuted the Sith, almost setting his hair on fire, but it didn't stop there. Revan was giving it his all and the lightning expanded from the body like a conductor and spread to every other Sith in the room.

"I want everyone off this bridge!" yelled Revan while still blasting the Sith squad with lightning. When he ceased his efforts the Sith were all dead except for one who was farthest away. The Sith was on his knees gasping for air and as he looked forward, a pair of lightsabers came down on his head execution-style that even Trek was taken aback by. "Maybe you didn't hear me the first time," he growled. "Get off this bridge! The Sith have already begun their assault and with all critical systems offline, the _Hammer_ cannot be saved. Jace help Cassandra carry Dustil to the _Ebon Hawk_ and begin calculating for a jump through the nebula! Yuthura you carry that wounded…"

"Stop," said Trek. "You can't expect us to abandon my ship! It's all we as a rebellion have!"

"_Wrong! _It's all you as a rebellion _had_. This ship is already dead and the Sith are about to drive a final stake through it for good measure, and I will _not_ leave my crew here to die! If you want to die then feel free to stay, but you lost this fight a long time ago, Trek."

"No thanks to you! Where the hell were you?" Revan looked over his shoulder at him and gave him a look that made even Treks blood run cold. Then Revan turned to exit the bridge as he pulled another man to his feet, and then another.

One particular surprise that came to Revan was that Trek actually overcame his stubbornness and reached common sense quicker than he thought. He was getting ready to knock him out and deal with the consequences later, but instead the problem became Archie. Trek saw the wisdom in Revan's words and reluctantly apologized.

The _Hammer of Judgment_ began to violently shake and alarms went off all over the ship. Not only were the shields finally dead but there was already a hull breach. With the ship immobile and more than half the crew dead, it was defenseless and General Rexx had given orders that if the main Sith boarding party that Revan had just killed could not take Trek alive, then the ship was to be destroyed. The Sith were now acting upon those orders and the remaining nine vessels were unleashing hell upon the _Hammer of Judgment_ just as Revan knew they would.

"You heard the man!" Trek yelled now fully on board with Revan's plan. "Get up and move out! No one gets left behind!"

"No sir!" said Archie as he stood. "I must go down with the ship. The _Hammer_ was my responsibility and I failed you." Trek's eyes dangerously narrowed but once he saw that Archie was being as stubborn as he is, he lashed out his hand and knocked his right hand man out cold. Trek hauled him over his shoulders and began moving to catch up with Revan who was in the middle of the survivor pack.

Jace jumped up the ramp into the _Ebon Hawk_ like a pencil diver and took the helm with T3-M4 while Yuthura and Cassandra stuck Dustil in the Med Bay and fastened their seat belts in the main hold. As the droid moved toward the security systems Revan came in quickly and jumped into the seat next to Jace.

In came another five rebels – two crew members and three hardened fiercely angry soldiers under Trek's command. "Where's Trek!" one of them asked but Trek was there throwing Archie onto one of the seats in the main hold with his other few remaining soldiers.

Trek yelled up to Revan. "There's still one person left on board I need to go get. Strap everyone else in, I won't be long."

"Make it quick! We _will _leave without you!" But Trek was already off.

Trek sprinted down the ramp of the Ebon Hawk and practically flew up the hallway. He had not forgotten the promise he made to Rainer about his wife Marill. She was in the med clinic just up the hall and with any luck she'd still be alive.

As Trek made it to the door of the med bay he walked into a grizzly site. A dozen Sith and their human soldiers lied dead at his feet with a makeshift barricade halfway across the room made of tables and cabinets. He didn't see any of his men there alive but he knew he had to push the thought of fallen comrades out of his mind. As he leaped over the barricade he saw where Marill was on a cot towards the back of the room away from the fight. She was alive but tense, experiencing a shock and trauma unlike anyone he had ever seen. He could tell she wanted to just let it all out and cry but tears and words escaped her.

As he rushed over he noticed another dead true Sith with a hole burned right between his eyes, and across from him against the wall next to Marill was one of his men still alive but barely aiming a pistol straight at him. "Commander..." the man said weakly through the pain of a sword through his gut as he dropped his weapon.

"Come on. I'm getting the two of you out of here. We have to make it to the hanger."

"_No_...I'm finished...sir" he said grabbing Trek's hand with a faint smile, "We did our best to hold the med bay...we gave them hell. There's nothing left. She'll be okay...take her and get her out."

"Don't start with me," growled Trek as he looked through the cabinets and drawers to find some adrenaline for the man but quickly realized that there was none left after noticing all the syringes on the floor.

"Sir," he said weakly as he coughed up some blood, "I know you've had to see some good men get left behind today but you'll have to bear just one more. Don't mourn me, don't miss me…just make sure my death was not in vein." The medic closed his eyes for the last time.

Trek, barely holding himself together, turned and picked up the still extremely tense Marill and turned to see a Sith, wounded and battered but very much alive and bearing down on him with a sword. With a person slumped over his shoulder and no time to react, Trek was done for.

But at the last second the sword was shot out of the Sith's hands. Stunned, the Sith looked over to the last thing he would ever see – a young ex-Jedi leaping over the barricade with a blaster in one hand and his saber in the other. Jace slashed the Sith at the waist and put three holes into his head as the final enemy fell to the floor. "You could have at least called for backup," Jace sneered.

"You're the last person I'd expect to save my hide." Trek replied as Jace dropped the blaster and helped Trek carry Marill on their shoulders.

"Would you rather I left you here?"

"Shut up and let's go before they do." They ran out of the med bay and back towards the hanger. Marill tried to speak but Trek hushed her and kept her head rested comfortably.

Before Trek and Jace could even step into the _Ebon Hawk_ again_, _things went bad again; the hull of the _Hammer_ was being penetrated deeper and deeper and the Sith were not stopping there. Fighters were flying into the ship and deploying torpedoes and missiles at critical targets before leaving. The ship had been trembling before but several explosions were heard and felt around them. The moment Trek and Marill were in Jace jumped ahead of them to get back to the cockpit and closed the ramp – just in time to not get killed when the hanger bay shield exploded prematurely causing the metal blast door to begin to close down over it. But one set of cluster bombs deployed from a fighter was bringing the roof down around their heads and created a large opening in the blast door.

The _Ebon Hawk _began to slowly lift off the ground and turn around but getting through that little opening was going to be a challenge even though it was slowly getting bigger. From around their heads, the _Hammer of Judgment_ was dying, its engines and reactors going critical just as the others had before them.

"We're not going to make it!" yelled Jace.

The cockpit view revealed a fire blazing even harder and the crew felt a rattle from a massive explosion. From a safe distance, the True Sith gleefully watched as the _Hammer of Judgment_ exploded into a billion pieces and the last remnants of the Kraxis Rebellion had been swept away.

* * *

And from a preexisting communication channel between General Rexx and the Grand Sire, Rexx spoke. "We've done it, Sire. They're dead…they're all dead."

The Grand Sire gave a light nod of approval and cut transmission.


	43. Chapter 42: None Died In Vain

**Part III**

**The Unfolding of the Dark

* * *

**

**Chapter 42**

**None Died In Vain

* * *

**

_Ten seconds before the explosion…_

The _Ebon Hawk_ had turned 180 degrees towards the docking bay blast doors to make a break for the opening created by the destructive power of the nine Sith naval vessels that were badgering the flagship to oblivion. Hyperspace coordinates had been punched, programmed, and calculated towards the other side of the nebula in a short bullet jump.

"We're not going to make it!" yelled Jace.

"Make the jump, _now!_" ordered Revan.

"What? You're insane, we're still inside the hanger!"

But Revan screamed the command again and Jace reluctantly pulled the lever back as another fragment of the blast door was incinerated by an explosion. The entire docking bay was on fire and there were exploding hot projectiles flying all over the place. The stars stretched out to starlines and the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_ felt another heat wave from the exploding flagship as the smuggler's vessel hit hyperspace no more than a split second before it died.

The _Ebon Hawk _was in hyperspace for no more than three minutes and no one could even contemplate what had just happened with their alert level still in red and their hearts pounding like a bass drum line. Jace flicked the lever forward and within a second, the _Ebon Hawk_ came out of hyperspace on the other side of the Psytosis Nebula to another patch of empty space. Jace sighed in deep relief and then collapsed onto the control panel from exhaustion.

For a day's worth of slow traveling the silence could not have been more eerie, or boring. Everyone knew what everyone was thinking; it was the rancor in the room, it was on the tip of everyone's tongue but no one had the hearts to speak the truth – they had lost. Despite all the exhaustion no one could sleep, no one could try and find something to do to take their minds off of what had happened. It was even more awkward that for another small part of the crew, it had not really hit them yet. An emotional reaction was inevitable and both Yuthura and Cassandra sometimes tried really hard to force themselves to cry just to let it all out. It didn't work.

The one piece of good news was that by now Dustil had made almost a full recovery. The laser wound had healed up but his nerves were still a little bit rattled from all the lightning. He wanted walk and Cassandra knew he could but she tactfully told him not to because he did not yet know what had happened.

And that was when it hit her – Dustil's curiosity could not be held off for long. Eventually he would have gone straight to Revan, and Revan would have told him the cold truth. Cassandra sat beside him and told him everything about what had happened. At first Dustil didn't believe her and showed some hostility but when he saw the confirming look on Yuthura's face, he broke down. Cassandra and Dustil cried in each others' arms and Yuthura was finally able to let it out as well.

The next day was a bit less quiet but no more comforting to the crew because the only thing they could do was speculate. They could not cast blame; all of it had happened so fast and all they had were pockets of information. Trek had also made it very clear that the buck stopped with him, but no one dared to approach him about it. Even Archie Saww didn't want to talk about it because after he woke up from getting knocked out, he just wanted to fall back asleep and wake up again in the hopes that all of this was just a really bad dream.

While the crew and other survivors did their usual daily hygienic routines and adapted to space travel on a smaller vessel with a bit more of a population density than they were used to, Revan did almost nothing. He had taken off his mask but not his armor; it was like it was stuck to him. His mind was a raging hurricane of mental and emotional stress during the two days. At times he was experiencing a maelstrom of thoughts and at other times he was just depressed and could not think of anything.

He knew what everyone was thinking. They were going to attribute their lives having been saved to him and looked to him as the new leader. There was no wishful thinking about that. Trek was now an emotional mess. The only words he had heard from him was when he moved past him when no one else around and Trek grabbed him by the lapel and told him that he really wanted to blame him and yell at him for everything, but he couldn't – Trek said that he knew better and that _he_ was to blame, not Revan. But Revan didn't believe a word of it. None of the titles of brave and noble heroism he knew some of the survivors would bestow upon him were going to be of comfort; none of the so called good news was going to hide the truth.

"_I don't deserve this…_" he thought. "_None of it._"

The worst part was, this awkward silence in the crew interrupted only by passing speculative conversations between them was only going to be broken when Revan said something. They were all looking to and waiting for him – a fact that made his stomach crawl thinking about because if he said the wrong thing, all hell would break loose.

The maps of the planetary systems on the southern end of the nebula could be charitably described as slightly inaccurate. It was only through the Force that Revan was able to pick up a sign of the planet of Nagai when it turned out that the hyperspace coordinates led to nothing but more empty space. When they found the world, it was as cold and empty as the planet Illum. Both worlds were icy and snowy planets with only a slightly more versatile animal kingdom than Hoth but Illum had more than one anomaly on it. Revan wondered if the Jedi Order had ever been there before because these anomalies turned out to be deep underground caves that grew color and power crystals for the lightsaber.

The True Sith recalled all hunting parties and canceled the bounty on Amicus Trek's head. Looking deeper into the network at the individual files that the Sith had on each rebellion – a list that was quite hilariously incomplete, Jace found out that the Sith had confirmed them as deceased and had updated their daily news blogs in a biased and misleading way, functioning like the generic propaganda machine that it was.

"PETTY UPRISING STAMPED OUT OVER MENGSKIN!" read the headlines and countless posts about how glorious it was to witness the final destruction of Amicus Trek. The rebels were used to ignoring these kinds of blogs but with their current situation it was a lot more nerving.

Revan continued to act like a mute for the past two days while he pondered which planet to land on. Illum was of course his first thought but that would have been too easy. Their presence might have been shielded by the power of the crystals but there was no way the Sith could not have known about it. But what excuse could they have to go to Nagai? And even if they did, their hideouts would be underground and Nagai was an empty ice hole. They were no longer actively searching for them but Revan would not have put it past the Sith to venture to Illum for any number of different reasons involving the crystal caverns. All it required was some tact, and Revan's mind was already racing with a big to-do list.

But the other thing on Revan's mind was Lena's final words. "_Find someone to pass on your knowledge and do what you do best_," she had said. Now that they could no longer fight the True Sith this suddenly seemed possible and even plausible, but who? The only person that came to mind was Yuthura Ban. She had proven herself time and time again with her strength and ferocity in combat as well as her loyalty as a crew member. When she first joined him Revan was more likely to trust Dustil before her but she quickly dismissed any raw ideas he might have had. Lena never said who he should train – most likely because she knew he would have to figure that out for himself.

"You've been very quiet lately." Trek entered the helm with these words and then signaled Jace to leave. Jace nodded and left to check on Dustil.

"You and me both," responded Revan. "What's on your mind?"

"You," said Trek.

"What about me? You said you wanted to blame me but you don't think you can."

"And you don't seem to agree," replied Trek. "Look…maybe you understand this, maybe you don't; who's the more foolish – the fool or the fool who follows? That was your idea and I thought it was a sound plan so I followed it. I went with it because my instincts told me to, and they were wrong. You let your dreams get the better of you and that was because Zazz stuck that dream into your head deliberately so you would do what you did. It may have been your fault for not realizing that you were being deceived but I'll be damned if I'm going to stand here and watch you mope around like there's nothing you can do.

"You have the ability to learn from defeat and inspire loyalty and confidence even among the most downtrodden of peers. You have the ability to gain victory and help us find our inner strengths. We're right at the bottom of the barrel, but they all trust you…as do I. I can't lead this rebellion anymore, Revan. It has to be you."

Revan gave a deep sigh as if he had expected this from Trek. "I'm not going to bother arguing with you," he said. "For the Sith to be destroyed, this rebellion must go on; it's the only band of fighters that have ever made a difference out here. I came here to fight them and stop them from doing to my home what they did to yours. You want me to lead this rebellion, fine; but I can't do this without you. I'll need you with me."

"You'll have it."

The next few hours consisted of on and off trips outside the ship and planetary scans to find the deepest and most stable cave they could find. Once that was found, Jace brought the ship up and into it and then Revan ordered everyone outside and to set up camp and start an artificial fire. He helped out and then when he was sure that everyone was occupied and needed no more help, he called Yuthura over.

"How are you holding up?"

"Jace has his computer, Dustil has Cassandra, everyone's got something or someone to give them a little comfort. I never thought I'd need it…"

"Yuthura, this is going to be a tough road from here forward. Lena's gone…the Kraxis Rebellion is over…and with us out of the way, the Sith are stronger than ever."

"If you're trying to talk me out of staying…"

But Revan cut her off. "You've been an invaluable asset to me and this whole rebellion. It's probably safe to say that without you, we might not have made it past Malachor V." Revan knew Yuthura wanted to say something to modest out the complements, but he went on. "Before she died, Lena made me promise her not to give up and to find someone to pass on what I know of the Force to. As I look at the situation around us, our days may very well be numbered and someone else must know what I know."

"Alright stop," said Yuthura. "Are you…asking me to train under you?" Revan smirked and nodded. Yuthura pondered for a bit as they kept moving. "There might have been a time when I would have said yes to this in a heartbeat…but my problem is I don't care enough." Revan gave her a perplexed look and waited to hear more. "I've never been that curious of a person by nature – I've only wanted to know what will help me do what I need to do. I don't think this is for me."

"You belong to neither the Jedi nor Sith and you've got potential to be so much more. How is this not for you?"

"Because I won't be as useful to you as a student as much as I'll be of use to you as your left hand; I've got experience in keeping organized and getting things done. What you need is a student to eventually turn into a lieutenant – I'm already a lieutenant." Revan sighed because it wasn't enough that he knew Yuthura was right – she didn't want that, something he wondered if he should have been surprised with.

His mind began racing of alternatives. "_No way can I teach Myrther…not even sure if I'd want to. Lena would have been more suitable a teacher for him than me – given his strengths._" Then all of a sudden he wondered why Jace was the next person he thought of as opposed to Dustil. But before he could think more, Yuthura interjected.

"You may want to ask Dustil about this," she said and Revan almost smiled at the parallel.

"Is he going to be alright?

Yuthura nodded. "He's tougher than he looks, he'll be fine both physically and emotionally. But I'm serious – Dustil's quite the opposite of me in terms of being a student. In fact the more I think about it, the more I think it's perfect."

This got Revan thinking again. He knew Dustil was incapacitated for a long time, but he hadn't forgotten that Dustil saved his life. He threw himself into a blaster shot and nearly got barbequed by a simultaneous bombardment of lightning. Dustil was rather self-conscious but that was most likely the effect Revan had on him just by being there. Revan was never worried about his ability to fight and Dustil had proved himself at many different aspects – lightsaber, hand to hand, gun turrets, and general flying. He was adaptive and creative, his improvements under Yuthura and Lena were far beyond what was expected, and the best part was his mind was an open parachute.

Yuthura knew Revan would have to think more about it but instead he turned back to her and ordered her to return to the camp and brief Trek on the plans which he briefly summarized to her. When he got back everyone was ready and had gathered around the fire.

"Rebels," he began, speaking in a soft and humble tone. "We've taken a mighty hit from the Sith. We've lost a lot of ships, all our resources, and worst of all a lot of good people. I can't lie to you; this is a battle that we have lost and the Sith have won." Revan could see the depressed look on all of their faces but he knew he had to continue. "But speculating and casting blame is a waste of time we do not have. We as leaders must take responsibility but most importantly, we as a rebellion _must_ go on.

"If we, as alive…kicking and angry dissidents allow this battle to have been our final the galaxy will be doomed; the Sith will not stop until they spread their self-justified atrocities to the rest of known space and civilization. You need only to see what this galaxy will become without us to understand how important we really were, and how important we still are." Revan took another sigh and then briefly glanced at Trek. Trek gave a nodding plea for him to continue. "As your leader, I can promise you that I won't be perfect. I can promise you that our resurrection will not be an overnight project. However…I _will_ promise you that I will never give up, I will do my very best and then some to ensure that we _will_ stop the Sith and bring an everlasting peace and justice that we as a generation know nothing of.

"Now…there is but one thing we have going for us. We're dead. The Sith Empire believes itself invincible now that it has vanquished its enemies, and this mistake is going to cost them. We are going to ensure that none died in vain. We are going to remain underground; we are going to gather resources and support and when the time comes for us to strike, the Sith are not going to know what hit them. But we must also be patient. That means we need to stay put. I know this planet ain't civilization, but we are going to have to make do. We need to lay low for longer than you probably have before; we need to have disappeared so the Sith do not even have a reason to _think_ that we might be alive. Before we attacked the Grand Sire, we asked you to take heart and steel yourselves. Now I must ask you to do it again. We have a lot of work to do. Speak to either Commander Trek or Lieutenant Yuthura Ban to get your assignments. Crew dismissed."

The crew scrambled to either of them depending on who they were more comfortable with, and it was a surprisingly even split. They got their assignments and then immediately got to work, still not talking as much but it made them all the more productive. Throughout the night and into the next morning was tiresome work, their heated and sweaty bodies only somewhat relieved by the shivering cold of the planet. That afternoon when the icy supports and shelters were solidified and the generators were built and powered up deep enough underground to not come up on radar from the sky, nearly everyone went to sleep. Only Revan, Trek, and Yuthura stayed awake and they went over preparations to get rid of the _Ebon Hawk_.

The ship was emptied of any and all supplies but T3-M4 as well as the fragile and offline HK-47 were loaded onto the ship. Revan shut down and voice-locked the navicomputer with the same password he had for the secret compartment and only T3-M4 was made aware of that fact. The droid's assignment was to keep the ship moving through Republic space and keep it away from the Sith but little did Revan know of the secret message Bastila implanted in its memory core before their final goodbyes. This was it, the _Ebon Hawk _was to be thrown away as if he never owned it and Revan didn't think he could find the words to express how much he had come to love and treasure this ship, that which saved his life countless times.

But that was not the only part of the plan. Yuthura was assigned to take the ship out with T3-M4 and the coordinates for Katarr and back were handwritten on paper so to be placed into the galaxy map without the use of the navicomputer. Her assignments were to hand the ship over to T3-M4, and bring back to the Unknown Regions Lena's old ship – the_ Outrider_. That was going to be their ship from now on despite all the risks. Revan knew that it would still be safer than his own.

And all that time, Revan thought of what Yuthura said to him. Yuthura almost made it look like choosing between her and Dustil was like choosing between apples and oranges, but Revan wasn't so sure. He had all the time in the world to decide but he did not want it to take that long. Better to begin training an apprentice now so to know how to manage the multitasking stress before he got used to something else.

"Are you serious?" Dustil said when Revan phrased the question the exact same way to him. "Yeah…yes, absolutely."

"Don't do that," demanded Revan. "This might have sounded a little misleading but you haven't really been a student for a while."

"Not true," said Dustil. "I've always been a student. I just have a new teacher."

"Not yet," said Revan. "I never said I'd agree to teach you. I'm just…thinking about it and I need to know if you are willing to put all your efforts and doings of your duties and life on the sidelines for this. I've been a teacher to only one person and you know how impatient and eager he was…to the point of self destruction."

Dustil sighed. "Yeah alright, I won't commit to anything yet. You want me to think it over?"

"Take your time," said Revan. "I'll be doing the same; this won't be easy for either of us. I don't have a good history with apprentices."

"I'll do that."

And as Dustil left and took the icy stairs back down to join the others in slumber, Yuthura jumped the _Ebon Hawk_ in the air with the droids to send it back to the known galaxy forever.

* * *

"What's the matter D?" said Jace after rolling halfway around the room in his sleeping bag to get to Dustil. "Of all the people who need sleep, you…"

"Yeah, I know…" replied Dustil in an irritated tone. "Need it the most…"

"No," Jace countered. "What the hell do you need sleep for? You've had to take it easy while the rest of us do all the work." Dustil scowled and turned away but Jace chuckled.

"So what were you going to say?"

"Nothing, I just knew you'd say that so I could screw with you."

"Good night, Jace…" growled Dustil as he closed his eyes again.

"So what's the matter?"

"Why? So you can pretend like you're interested?" Dustil couldn't think of much else to say but return the treatment to Jace who seemed glee about interrupting his moments of contemplation.

"Alright fine," said Jace. "I _won't_ try and talk you into accepting Revan's offer to train under him. I'll just leave you to think about how you'll once again have to figure out what your role is in all this aside from being a pilot." Jace was humored about bluffing Dustil as he got up but the predictable kid's reaction made him stay.

"You don't need to talk me into it," said Dustil. "I want to do it and I said yes the first time."

"Clearly it wasn't enough," retorted Jace.

"Well it's not like he's going to make me beg…"

"But you should prepare for it anyway," said Jace. "Look…why do you think Revan asked you to think about it before telling him yes? I may not know the man personally but it seems like training under him would be rough, and it's not like he expects you not to give the same reply as before. He just wants you to know and fully understand what you're getting yourself into."

"And what's that?"

"You tell me," continued Jace. "Why were you so quick to say yes?"

"I'm a student," said Dustil. "That's just…who I am. I yearn to learn and I look to use what I learn to make a positive difference that gives my life a purpose. I hitched with Revan in the hopes of finding that purpose because after I left the Sith I was stuck with nothing to do. I'm not my dad and I'm not really a Jedi either…in that I've never been taught that. A part of me had always hoped that Lena would choose me to teach next but I guess that won't happen now."

Jace shook his head and gave him a look of dissatisfaction. "Not good enough," he said. "In plain words you just used your misfortune as an excuse."

"Fine," said Dustil. "I know what I'm getting into; it's nothing I'm not used to already. It sucks the life out of people but being a student is something that defines _my_ life. And I'm lucky to be alive all things considered. I know what he was referring to when he said that my life would be on the sidelines; I don't know how Cassandra feels about me but honestly I can't worry about that right now. I almost got killed on Mengskin because I was inadequate as a soldier. I need to do better."

"We all do," said Jace. "In fact, judging how inadequate the Sith's profile records of all of us were I'd say that'd be easier than expected. It's one thing to build a rebellion of foot soldiers and pilots but when you only have a handful of Force users, they need to be more than just formidable. We've got to be a one man army, all of us do. That's why this opportunity to learn from the best is so critical.

"It's also not just about you. Revan wants to pass his teachings to make someone else even more powerful than he is, but he knows more than that. Revan knows how to unite and lead; while we're still young he'll eventually have his rebellion. But he believes his mistake was that he let his dreams get the better of him – following them blindly because he just thought it led to victory. He's not going to make that same mistake again and that's why he's going to need more people around him who understand the Force."

"Someone like you?"

"It's not that either," snapped Jace. "I'm just saying you need to think in more than one dimension. You have your personal reasons for wanting this but Revan needs to know that you understand the importance of this in the big picture. He's asking you to be a jawed and friendlier version of Malak because he's going to need your help in getting things done. You can always be a student at heart, but Revan will need you to be more than just that. That's the lesson."

Dustil took another breath, taking it in. He cared not for the fact that this whole conversation had been in whispers to not wake anyone else up. "How do you know all this?"

"I got my own ideas," replied Jace. "Besides we'll all need some more training and…I need a training partner to ass kick until he can kick mine back."

"Of course you do…" Dustil yawned again and Jace smiled, knowing that he had said enough. They nodded before Jace slipped back into his sleeping bag and rolled away.

* * *

_The next evening…_

Everyone was much too busy continuing to build the structure that would probably take weeks to finish with only the good feeling for each completed part to notice that the _Ebon Hawk_ had suddenly been replaced by a ship a little over half its size but not nearly as pretty. The _Outrider_ landed in the designated clear space beneath where the ice arced up over ground level. Yuthura came off the ramp, lugging another big crate of supplies that Lena apparently had in storage for the past eighteen months since she last piloted that ship on her way back from the Unknown Regions the first time. Revan smiled to greet her and asked her for an update if she had one.

It turned out that Yuthura had more than just an update. She had a story. She had tapped into several different discreet holochannels in the Republic and Jedi Order and had listened into everything. She had found out about the guerrilla Sith tactics against the Jedi on Telos and about the deaths of Lucian Draay and Belaya Kepeaeu as well as the "mysterious" deaths of the Jedi on Trogan. Atris had also been reported missing. Then there were also rumors of assassinations of two other Jedi but their identities were not leaked.

More importantly she had also found out that Carth had been promoted to Rear Admiral Lower Half Carth Onasi and was given charge of all Republic operations in the Telos and Dantooine Systems. His more official title had enhanced his security detail and he now had much greater name recognition with the Republic. But no reports were broad-waved that Bastila was the chief aid to Admiral Onasi.

"So you have no idea what she's doing?"

"I checked up on Bastila as best as I could," Yuthura replied. "She was at Carth's hearing…that's the only story pertaining to her. Official records actually show that both she and Juhani have left the Order. Oh yeah…and Lonna Vash has resigned as a member of the council."

"Why'd she do that?"

"Something about becoming disheartened with the council all things considered. Jedi getting killed left and right and the council just sits there with their head up their ass. That's what her report said. I don't buy it."

But being on business, Revan was quick to change the subject. "I'm a little worried about these Jedi killings. Is there any specific target?"

"Not that I know of; they know about Jolee but considering all the deaths, I don't think they were targeting you or your party. Everyone who traveled with you has gone their separate ways. Mission and Canderous have even gone dark and I couldn't even get a whiff of where Bastila or Juhani were. They might have reached the wrong conclusions about the Sith's intentions and taken preemptive action. Ironically, it may have saved their lives, but the Sith are after the Jedi period."

"Well good," said Revan causing Yuthura to give him a mystified look. "It means I don't have to worry about them. We'll keep tabs on activity back in the Republic periodically but we can't afford to get bogged down with them. We're still underground." Yuthura nodded and walked away, leaving Dustil and Revan to chat in private. "I knew your father would make Admiral," Revan said to the boy. "He'll keep the Republic strong in case we need it for the future."

"I hope so," said Dustil. "But aren't we still opting for _not_ getting them involved?" But Revan didn't have to say anything back. Dustil knew that Revan intended for them to be a backup but still much more critical than the Jedi ever could be. This might very well turn into a war of attrition in the future and as long as the Republic had a sophisticated military industrial complex, it would be a great asset.

But Revan was not at all prepared to have to use them. They chatted about this and Revan also told him about what he had told Canderous Ordo to do so they also had the Mandalorians for backup as well. Dustil was gleeful to hear that but Revan dispelled any and all optimistic notions by telling him that even if they could be of help, they could not be contacted now because it was far more critical for the rebellion to remain dead. Dustil was normally a patient person but the sheer thought of having to just wait on things he had no control over and just let things play out to decide later on how to proceed was not enjoyable. But it had only been a year since Revan had said goodbye to them and that was not enough time to have a solid coalition back in that space, especially given all the problems the Republic had. It was going to take a while even in the best case scenarios.

"Sounds like you've been talking with Jace," said Revan. Dustil nodded. "Good. He knows me better than he thinks."

"I meant what I said," replied Dustil, wanting to keep it on topic. "I've thought about it, and I understand what I have to do, and to be honest there is nothing else I would rather do. I know you've had apprentice troubles before. I'm no Malak and I never will be – but as your apprentice I will do your bidding, obey your commands, and learn from you as I did from my others. I want this."

"You'd be my apprentice not my personal protocol droid," said Revan. "As long as you know that this is more than just about you. You can't just wish to learn from me in the hopes of being able to kill True Sith faster and quicker. You must understand that you have a part to play in all this. By understanding what I know of the Force and having more doors for its higher mysteries open to you, you not only gain a further appreciation for the sanctity of all life and the importance everyone has on the overall behavior of the Force – you understand your place and purpose in this galaxy and you understand that all you can do is to make the best out of what you have and fight for the things and people you care about."

"I understand," said Dustil. "I do not wish to learn how to kill Sith. I wish to learn how to defeat them – how to bring their power to submission so that there might be peace – something that Sith do not know or understand. I understand that with the power comes the obligation of using it for the good of the galaxy else I should become just as evil as the people I seek to destroy."

"I believe you are ready," said Revan with a smile.

"I am," said Dustil with the most confidence he could muster. "I'm ready to learn the ways of the Jedi."

Revan smirked. "No, not the ways of the Jedi…I'm going to teach you the ways of the Force."

From the glimmer of optimism in Dustil's eyes came the beginning of his final days as a student of the Force and the rebirth of the Kraxis Rebellion. Dark clouds swirled in the skies and for all they knew the loss they had suffered may be their last but they could not give up…not while they had left the strength of their spirit. The future looked dim – dim and dismal as the thick and stormy clouds overhead but from a small spot shined a little blue star. There was still room left for hope – hope that there might yet be another battle to fight…hope that not all was lost.

* * *

**End of "The Prodigal Knight"

* * *

**

**Revan will return in...  
**

"**Knights of the Old Republic: Revan's Mark"

* * *

**

_To all readers and fellow Star Wars fans, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time and effort to read this. We began this story exactly 20 months ago today and we have already begun plans for the sequel that will conclude the saga of the Old Republic in continued compliance with official Star Wars canon. Stay tuned for the acknowledgments section. And of course as always, should you have any questions, please refer to either Sarge or myself. Our door is always open._

_Please review our story._

_- Gipper 40 & Sarge42  
_


	44. Authors' Notes

**Authors' Notes

* * *

**

We authors of _The Prodigal Knight_ have been close friends since we met and trained martial arts together around 2005. We studied Modern Kenpo, a realistic adaptation of traditional martial arts movements and modern scientific principles to the streets. The art's base is attitude, fitness, basics, and logic and we learn on a web of knowledge from everything: grabs, punches, kicks, hugs, holds, locks, chokes, weapons, multiple opponents, and ground fighting. You might think of it as MMA, but it's less about preparing for tournaments and more of just a way of life. In case any of you are wondering, we are able to write so much action in our story, primarily because of our martial arts background.

The first order of business is the disclaimer that we have always stuck by no matter what. We own none of this. What ideas (original or not) we may have generated for this story are all under the influence of previous copyrighted works and considering that this is Star Wars, we owe it primarily to George Lucas.

Here's a list of the sources we took influence from. It is probably incomplete, but we've done our best to keep track of them.

* * *

**Books**

Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy – Timothy Zahn

The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien

Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling

The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis

Band of Brothers – Stephen E. Ambrose

The Forgotten Soldier – Guy Sajer

Memorial Day – Vince Flynn

Watchmen – Alan Moore

Brain Droppings – George Carlin

Just and Unjust Wars – Michael Walzer

Showdown at Gucci Gulch – Jeffrey Burnbaum & Alan Murray

**Fan Fiction Stories**

Knights of the Old Republic III: The Exile's Redemption – Dream Forger

The Weight of Glory – Elwin Ransom

**Movies**

Star Wars

The Lord of the Rings

Star Trek

The Departed

Iron Man

300

The Matrix

Batman Begins

The Dark Knight

Prince Caspian

James Bond

Bourne

Rambo

Die Hard

Enter the Dragon

Ong Bak

The Protector

Apocalypse Now

Pirates of the Caribbean

Indiana Jones

Alien

Terminator

Braveheart

Full Metal Jacket

Mission Impossible

Fight Club

Law Abiding Citizen

Pulp Fiction

Inglourious Basterds

**TV Shows**

24

Chuck

The Wire

Heroes

Firefly

The A-Team

Avatar: The Last Airbender

J.A.G.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

**Games**

Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

Star Wars: Obi-Wan

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Bioshock

Halo

Gears of War

Mass Effect

Starcraft

Warcraft III

Diablo II

Magic The Gathering

**Music**

Aerosmith

Talking Heads

Bob Dylan

The Beatles

Boston

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Deep Purple

Scorpions

AC/DC

Black Sabbath

Metallica

Iron Maiden

Queen

The Eagles

Fleetwood Mac

Johnny Cash

Neil Young

Eric Clapton

Grateful Dead

Jethro Tull

The Who

**This story was written in… **(Gipper does a lot of traveling)

Massachusetts

Ohio

Washington D.C.

New Jersey

Italy

Greece

Turkey

The Mediterranean Sea

New Zealand

* * *

To be a bit more specific in certain fields, we would like to first and foremost tell you what our main sources of canon are. It's not just enough to say "Star Wars" because there are so many aspects of it, and it can be a little disorienting. As what must always be the case, the films are the ultimate canon. Just as well as that, so too must the KOTOR games be canon as well – the light side male Revan and the light side female Exile. Of course, there is some room for flexibility considering all the side-quests and different plot-lines to explore (and we take advantage of this), but the one thing we do not take as canon is the Bioware MMO – "The Old Republic". Of course, it is not to say that these two cannot possibly coexist. The thing is, that game takes place 300 years later and not only can a lot happen, but history can also be rewritten. We take influence from the old "Star Wars Clone Wars" miniseries, which was one of the best animated action shows ever created. The final principle canon source was the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. The books are absolute masterpieces and it was in them that Gipper learned how to reverse-trigger an accelerator compensator (the trick Jace pulled to escape Sith captivity in Chapter 27). We also gained a breadth of information of the Star Wars by the occasional several-hour long surfs through Wookieepedia.

And on a similar note, the character of Jace Myrther is the sole creation of Sarge42 and he is modeled off of two things – Jace Beleren from Magic The Gathering (in terms of looks and mind-tricking powers), and the personality of Sarge42 himself. You can think of Jace to be Sarge's doppelganger of a sort. Sarge is wise beyond his years (and he doesn't have that many years behind him) and this entire project was his idea. Lena Verado in role and back story was created by Gipper 40 but given the name and personality by Sarge42. Amicus Trek is the sole creation of Gipper 40, but unfortunately is not modeled off his personality. The backstory and brutal vengeful nature of Trek was taken of great influence from the film _Law Abiding Citizen_ with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx but more importantly with the idea that it matters less about what kind of power you're using compared to what you're using it for.

Music influences often come from either lyrics, themes, or just the song titles. Take Chapter 16 for instance – Rats in the Cellar, which is an Aerosmith classic. Or Chapter 23 – Working For MCA an epic song by Lynyrd Skynyrd; and there's also Chapter 20 – Space Truckin' (Deep Purple). Then there's also Chapter 41 – Disposable Heroes (Metallica). Simple things like that are sometimes tough to think about, and that's where music or other media can help.

Obviously having a martial arts background isn't enough to write what we'd like to think are some of the most detailed gritty bone-crunching violent action sequences in our story. We've taken influence from other martial arts movies and fast paced thrillers. 24 is certainly a source, as is James Bond, The Matrix, Die Hard, Rambo, and the Bourne Trilogy. Heavy metal and hard rock music was also quite useful in helping us write them out.

Then there's also the matter of character dialogue. We cannot cite Firefly and 24 enough to properly show how much they've contributed to this. Granted of course there are others (like Goldeneye, Rambo, The Departed, and basically anything by Quentin Tarantino) but the kind of witty or serious manner by which they're expressed from my imagination is a trait that aspired from watching these two shows. To be even more specific, we even took a few scenes from Firefly and put them in the story. Chapter 25 has a part with Revan and Lena and HK-47 doing an op on a random backwater planet, a scene taken almost word for word from a scene in the Firefly episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds." Remember how many times Revan yelled "_Damn it!_"? Every time we (Gipper specifically) wrote that, it humored us to think of how many times Jack Bauer says it in 24…and how it just never stopped being awesome.

And as we're certain you've noticed there's a good amount of politics in this story. Star Wars is political by its very nature – episodes 4-6 depict a noble rebellion an evil (and imperialistic) tyranny. Episodes 1-3 are a parallel with the story of how Adolf Hitler came into power and how the Weimar Republic fell. The Galactic Republic is built off of Plato's model – something that requires an order of supernatural "guardians" to protect it and keep the peace. Mass Effect calls those people SPECTRES. Star Wars calls them Jedi. Gipper 40 is a political junkie to the nth degree and has spent a fair amount of time in Washington D.C. studying how the process works (and in the case of this story…learning about what a particularly entertaining Senate hearing looks like). The both of us see more or less eye to eye in terms of politics, but we have also done our best not to bestow any kind of bias upon the readers (aside from the necessary "Sith suck" kind of attitude…) because it really doesn't matter. I also mention this because that is what gave us the idea of a Kraxis Rebellion against the Sith empire happening in the first place, as it is a quintessential element of Star Wars.

Our final set of acknowledgments goes to all of you. Your courage and bravery in trudging through this colossus of a novel (that went to over 450 pages on Microsoft Word) and the energy you gave us with every review and alert/favorite subscription went into inspiring us to continue and keep doing our best in more ways than you might believe. As much as we valued all of your constructive criticism, we would like to _especially_ thank **Elwin Ransom**. He has been a major supporter in our efforts and a great friend, particularly to Gipper 40. His advice and ideas (many of which came straight from his own stories that we highly recommend reading) went a long way to helping us and we probably could not have done this without him. We also thank **Darth Azrael** for his help in correctly crafting the character Lucien Draay, as well as the dialogue between him and Darth Sion in Chapter 20. Thank you all, best wishes, and God bless.

Gipper 40 & Sarge42


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